Harry Potter and The War with the Light
by peregrin01
Summary: Just like there are wizards, there are also priests.  MagicalWorld!Bashing, Corrupted!Church
1. Chapter 1

When a Pope Dies

_This story shouldn't be read by non-catholic readers because you might get a wrong picture about the church. It also shouldn't be read by Catholics who are unable to make fun of themselves.  
>I moved the pope's death by 6 years to fit with the time-line of Harry Potter books. This fanfiction can be considered as Post-Ootp but I won't go into detail about what happened since the fifth book since it would be mainly rehashing. <em>

The year was 1999. Cardinal Peter Gruber half-kneeled by the pope's bed. The pope weakly grasped the cardinal's hand and whispered, "My friend. It's good to see you."

"I'm glad you are strong enough to accept a visit. I hope you'll get better soon." replied Gruber.

The pope chuckled and then said, "I will. I definitely will for I'll be with our Lord. At least, I hope so."

When Gruber said nothing, the pope stated, "We both know that I'm dying."

"I know. But it's hard to accept." replied Gruber and he sounded sincere but the dying pope saw through it.

Nevertheless, he continued, "I know the preferences of the other cardinals and I'm confident that you will be my successor."

"I think it's premature to talk about such things."

"On the contrary. I think it's a high time."

The pope caughed a bit and then ho got a little more serious. He said, "I know that I've made some decisions that weren't exactly to your liking and that many cardinals share your opinion. Especially when... you know what is concerned. I don't deny that this is a war. But listen to me, if you decide to get involved, remember one thing: the more you push, the worse the situation will turn. A wide scale attack would surely unite them all against the common enemy. And even subtle meddling could make them hostile towards us."

Gruber snorted and then asked, "So you advise me to do nothing?"

"I don't know what to advise since I don't know what is the future going to bring. But I advise you to be wise and patient when dealing with them. You must not repeat the mistakes and crimes of our predecessors. You must remember that not all of them are bad. There are many good people among them."

The pope continued in similar intentions for a little while longer. The cardinal stared at him, more and more disgusted by his every word. That was supposed to be the pope of the holy church? What he was saying sounded like words of a heretic and traitor!

Finally the pope clutched Gruber's hand a little stronger and told him, "Promise me. Promise me that you won't start a war with them. It's my dying wish."

Gruber looked in his pleading eyes. The whole thing was so pathetic. He sighed and then said, "Don't worry. I shall honor your politics."

After a while, the cardinal left. He had to talk to a few more cardinals and secure their votes.

* * *

><p>In a church on the outskirts of Rome, deacon Marco Rua stood up. He was less then thirty years old and he was an athletically built man. He almost looked like a soldier and not like a clerk. He invoked an impression of an energetic and tough man.<p>

He turned to father Matteo Cafasso. The priest was about fifty years old. His belly was slightly rounded and his head was balding. His face radiated kindness.

Marco slightly bowed his head and asked for the blessing to read from the evangel. When he received it, he walked to the opposite side of the presbytery. He turned to the right page, adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat. Then he read. It was the passage where Jesus was brought to Pilate.

When he finished, the priest took his place. Matteo Cafasso readjusted the microphone, briefly scanned his audience and then started, "Today, we've read about Pilate. I'm confident that this is one of the passages that all of you know like the Lord's prayer."  
>A few people chuckled and Matteo Cafasso continued, "However, do we understand everything that is said in there? Today, I would like to talk about power. When I look at this passage, I can't not to be amazed by how actual these old words are today."<p>

The priest continued with his homily. He talked about power, its usage and the responsibility it brings. But the people in the church were slightly disconcerted. Usually when Matteo Cafasso preached, he was very lively. He usually watched the people and his eyes romped among them to hold their attention. He usually wildly gesticulated and richly intoned. But not this time. This time, it was as if he talked to himself. He stood there without moving and stared in the air. Then he finished and the mass continued.

"What was that about? It seemed like your homily wasn't addressed to the audience at all." said Marco in the sacristy when the altar boys left.

"You are right."

"So, who was it for? Wizards?"

Matteo laughed and replied, "Have you seen any wizards in here today?"

"No."

"Then it wasn't for them. No my friend, it was meant for the two of us."

"Oh. I see."

They continued to pack up the things from the mass and Matteo asked, "So, how were the drills?"

"Oh, don't even ask. My whole body is still aching. I have to admire all those soldiers who can do this for their whole life." Matteo chuckeld and Marco continued, "But it was also very interesting. A lot of things changed during that short time that passed since the last time. I'm talking about the technologies used in modern armies and such."

When they finished packing up, Matteo said, "About what we talked about earlier."

"Yes?"

"Could you pray with me?"

"Well, yes, sure."

They reached Matteo's chamber. Matteo put a cross on the table and then lit a candle. Both men kneeled and started to pray.

They began with a few psalms followed by five minutes of silence. Finally, Matteo began the actual prayer, "Dear Lord, dark times lie before us. I am confident that we shall be called to arms soon and I shall wield your might once again. I don't know why you bestowed your great power to the two of us but I reckon that you had a reason. It was an expression of great confidence from you and I'll promise that I will do my best not to betray it."

Marco used Matteo's pause and added, "And I promise the same."

Matteo continued, "To be honest, I have no idea what would be the best course of action in the matter of wizards. My promise of loyalty to your church dictates me to rely on the wisdom of my superiors who see the big picture. But lately, I don't know if I should any more. A cloud of schemes and politics is settling on your church and soon, we won't be able to trust it any more than any other political entity."  
>Marco raised an eyebrow as he heard those bold words. Matteo continued, "So I ask for this. If I ever sway from your way, if there is ever a threat of misuse of your powers from my side, remove them from me at that moment. And please, treat similarly all my brothers."<p>

At those last words, Marco raised his eyebrow even more.

When they finished, Marco said, "Whoa! Some centuries ago, they would burn you on a pyre."

"Luckily those times are gone." replied Matteo and then stiffened. After a moment, he added, "At least I hope so."

Marco then continued, "And by the way, I don't think it works that way."

"What?"

"The final section of your prayer. At first: God doesn't exist in time as we do. So when he chose us, he saw our entire future - as much as it opposes the theory of uncertainty."

"I don't think it's that simple."

"At second: it requires a conscious violation of the rules to be stripped of our powers. I don't know if you can ask God to treat you otherwise but you certainly can't decide such things for others."

"So a psychopath (who doesn't realize what's he doing) wielding a weapon should be allowed to keep it?" opposed Matteo again.

"At third: I don't think that God's criteria are very strict. I know for a fact that there are others who aren't as wise and good as you are and they are still gifted."

Marco watched Matteo for a while and then continued, "And frankly, I don't think that God is going to remove our powers. He let the wizards to keep theirs even when they are virtually contesting in abusing them. I think that we are something as a counterweight."

Matteo sighed and then replied, "Marco. Why do you think that they were given anything? What if their powers are natural to them? Electric eel can stun its prey by electricity. And nobody says that it has some unnatural powers. What if wizards are simply a different species? Or some kind of a new branch of humanity? When I use my powers, I can feel that they are not mine. Do wizards feel the same? I don't know."

But Marco pressed further, "But how do you explain that through their spells, they can emit more energy then their bodies, minds or anything else can produce? And their technology? Where does it take energy from, heh?"

"I really don't know, I'm not a wizard. Maybe from the magnetic field of Earth?"

Marco's and Matteo's discussions were sometimes heated. But they were loyal friends and brothers in arms. They would die for each other.

Several weeks later, just as he predicted, Matteo found himself in the office of a bishop who was his superior.

"Sit down Cafasso." said the bishop.

Matteo did so and waited. The bishop watched him for a while and when Matteo didn't say anything, the bishop said, "You probably already suspect why are you here."

"Well, I might have an idea."

The bishop leaned back and then asked, "What do you know about the situation in Britain?"

"Well, it's a war-zone. But you have to excuse me, we were making a new football field in our parish so I didn't have much time to keep a track of recent political developments."

The bishop almost gnashed his teeth. Was that idiot Cafasso joking? His tone was so sincere that bishop really didn't know. He quickly filled him in. Matteo faked horror but the truth was that he wasn't told anything new. Correction: he learned what was the official version of his superiors.

Then the bishop said, "The holy church of our Lord can't be idle in times like these."

"So, what's the holy church going to do?" asked Matteo.

"That will be decided as the first thing after the elections. But before that, we need to conduct a preliminary reckon."

The bishop took a folder from his desk and gave it to Matteo.

"You are one of our most powerful priests, though only God himself knows why. I don't know if it's the best choice but it's you who we are sending to England."

"Is Marco Rua going with me?"

"That promising... well, paladin?" The bishop shuddered a bit as he said that sentence. Not only he despised the connotation of the word with the fantasy genre but he also didn't like Marco's friendship with Matteo. Then he answered, "Yes, he will accompany you. He and two more priests and two more... paladins."

Matteo raised an eyebrow. That was quite a force for a recon team. He asked, "I suppose I will lead them?"

"No, not exactly. You don't have the required qualities for that. You shall coordinate activities of the six of you since you know more then any of them about your stuff. But father Malvolio Rattazzi will have the highest command."

"Rattazzi... Rattazzi..." repeated Matteo because that name didn't ring a bell to him.

"He is from the political department."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes. He shall monitor everything and make decisions. Also, our forces in England are quite thin and priests of the Anglican church don't have our project. Hence, Rattazzi will also make contact with the English prime minister and secure the support of the local army."

"OK." said Matteo. "Anybody else?"

"Yes. The thirteenth anti-wizard platoon shall accompany you."

Matteo was a bit surprised to hear the number, this time for real. He asked, "Excuse me, did you say thirteenth? I thought that Vatican had only ten platoons of... support troops."

The bishop was a little annoyed. Why was this Cafasso being sent there when he even wasn't told about the ongoing expansion of the anti-wizard project?

"Did you thought that we would suffice with ten in times like these?" asked the bishop and continued, "They will cover your back if the need arises. They will be led by their lieutenant in combat but they will answer directly to father Rattazzi."

The bishop stood up and asked, "Do you have any questions?"

Matteo wanted to ask, "Are we allowed to find a peaceful solution or was it already decided that this is going to be an all out war?" but he stayed silent.

"Very well. All the details are in the folder. Good luck." said the bishop.

Then the bishop ushered Matteo out of the room. He closed the door, rolled his eyes and sighed. He thought that the church would be much better without people like Cafasso among them. But on the other hand, it was much better to send somebody like Cafasso in a meat-mincer.

* * *

><p>A secretary ushered father Malvolio Rattazzi and another priest in the prime minister's office.<p>

They entered and exchanged greetings. The minister looked all right at the first glance but both priests soon noticed that something was off.

When the pleasantries were exchanged, Rattazzi asked, "We have come in the matter of... the special terrorists in your country. How much do you know about the situation?"

"Special terrorists?" repeated the minister absent-mindedly.

Rattazzi looked at his companion who told him, "There is some kind of a curse on him that prevents him from speaking about it or acting on it."

"Can you lift it?"

"I'll try."

Rattazzi then turned back to the minister, "Be still for a minute."

The minister's eyes widened. Did they know? Did they say something about removing of his mental block?

The other priest took out the cross he wore around his neck and started to pray, with his hand aimed at the minister. Cafasso would lift the curse in a few seconds but this other priest wasn't so skilled. Rattazzi didn't want Cafasso anywhere near the prime minister.

Finally, the procedure was complete. The minister heaved a sigh and leaned on his desk. The priest rushed to him and asked him if he was all right. Then he advised him to order some drink with sugar for himself.

When the minister was feeling better, he asked, "What was that? I wasn't even able to... to do or say anything. Even when the reports about it were streaming to me from the whole country! I couldn't say anything about..."

"Yes, wizards, sorcerers, _the art_ practitioners. Don't be afraid to say that, your tongue is free now. And we certainly won't think that you are mad. And to answer your question, it was nothing else then another demonstration of the dark power of the devil." answered Rattazzi and took a cross enchanted by Cafasso from his pocket. "Wear this and it won't happen again. It's blessed to protect you."

"To a certain limit. For as long as you wear it. And for as you don't disrupt it with your disbelief in such trinkets." added the other priest. Rattazzi glared at him.

"Who are you people?" asked the minister.

"You already know. I'm father Malvolio Rattazzi and I speak on behalf of Vatican."

"Yes, I know that. But how do you know about _them_ and how did you fix me?"

"Dear minister, we are the holy church of our Lord and some of us thus bear his power. We aren't here only to ensure the salvation of the human kind but also it's protection. Protection from... _them_."

"Excuse me." cut in the other priest. "How did this happen to you? You weren't protected?"

"I was. At first." replied the minister. "There was this... Kingsley. He was my bodyguard. But then he said that they were after him and abandoned me. The other side came shortly after that."

"That happens when you trust wizards. Let me ask you one more time, how much do you know about what's happening?" asked Rattazzi and eagerly awaited the minister's response. His level of ignorance would be equal to the level of his hold over him.

"Well, I guess that the Ministry of Magic fell."

"Fell? It was taken over by the Death Eaters. If there is possible to talk about any taking over at all. Don't you realize that their entire society would rather see us all dead? It's like in Nazi Germany - Hitler was only one man, just like Voldemort is. He wouldn't be able to succeed if the whole wizarding society wasn't evil!"

The other priest felt a slight twinge of magic as Rattazzi said the jinxed name and dissolved it. Cafasso was already working on a more permanent solution.

"But what about the resistance? That Kingsley seemed to be a good chap." asked the prime minister.

"Resistance? There is no resistance. Only some people who have personal quarrels with Voldemort or his Death Eaters. But those loose ends have been tied and so, thanks to the inactivity of our last pope, we missed a great opportunity to attack. Because now, they shall turn against us in earnest. I mean, against you at first. The rest of the world shall follow soon."

The minister contemplated Rattazzi's words and then asked, "And you can actually counter their magic?"

"Well, not me personally but my subordinate here and others, they can."

"How can I help?"

"Well, you can start by what you should have done ages ago - call for an emergency meeting of the High Command."


	2. Chapter 2

First Strike

A Gazelle helicopter was flying over the sleeping England. The pilot was a member of the British army but the man on the co-pilot seat was father Matteo Cafasso. His eyes were closed and he was gently stroking his temple.

"About three degrees to the left." said Matteo and the pilot corrected the course.

"And their distance?" asked paladin Marco Rua who was sitting in the back with another priest and paladin.

"About sixty kilometres."

The other priest's eyes widened. Cafasso's ability to sense the dementors from such a distance could mean only one thing and so he asked, "Is there many of them?"

"Yes, it's a big group. We are lucky to be able to give them such a huge blow on our first strike."

"Lucky?" asked the other paladin. "Shouldn't we call the others?"

Marco chuckled and responded, "I guess you never saw Cafasso in action. Don't worry."

About five minutes later, Matteo said, "I think they are headed south-east."

Marco checked a map and then agitatedly said, "Their target is this village. We need to intercept them before they reach it!"

Pilot changed the course again and called the Lynx helicopter that was following them.

As they flew further, their assumption was proven true. They landed on a field which was positioned in the expected route of the dementors. The Lynx landed shortly after them and a small squad of Italian soldiers disembarked from it. Most of them were armed with flame-throwers.

"They are coming." stated Matteo after a while.

The soldiers took their positions on sides. Matteo, Marco and the other priest went fore while the other paladin remained with the soldiers.

Soon, the chilly night air grew even colder. The three men in front stood still. One of the soldiers shivered. The other paladin laid his hand on his shoulder and encouraged him, "Be strong, God is with us."

Then they came - a group of sinister hooded figures. The dementors stopped for a moment and then continued to glide toward what they supposed to be their appetizer.

The two priests and the paladin waited to the last moment. When the dementors were mere metres away from them, they raised their crosses and cried. Three cones of light appeared, Matteo's one was noticeably bigger then the others.

The dementors hit by the light started to burn. Those in front were destroyed almost instantly. The soldiers felt better suddenly and charged. Some of them seemed to know where the dementors were, others had to be directed by the paladin who was with them. Flame poured out from the flamethrowers and the yet undestroyed dementors found their demise in it. The screeching of the burning abominations was everywhere.

Finally it was over and darkness and silence filled the field again. The priests and paladins remained on guard, Matteo was searching for any other targets (but the residual energy of the dementors interfered). Some soldiers took IR and NV goggles and looked around.

Nott and several other Death Eaters apparated on the edge of the field. They were supposed to attack the village with the dementors and clean the site afterwards. They came to investigate what kept them.

They detected the people on the field and the burned remains of the dementors. It didn't even cross their minds that the muggles destroyed them and so they carelessly approached them.

Matteo and others found out about the new arrivals shortly after they apparated. The priest turned towards them while each paladin took a group of soldiers and moved to flank the enemy.

Nott met the priests, the other Death Eaters remained behind him. They knew about the hidden muggles but they were ignoring them in their arrogance.

"Good evening son. I see that my brother and me aren't the only ones who enjoy a nice refreshing stroll in night." said Matteo to Nott.

The Death Eater pursed his lips in anger. Then he snarled, "Shut your filthy mouth you vermin and tell me what happened here if you want to die quickly."

He said that only to bring the information he wanted to the front of Matteo's mind. Then he tried to read it. To his surprise, he found out that the priest's mind was extraordinarily disciplined and organized. He wasn't able to get inside.

"Now, that's not a proper way to talk to a servant of God." said Matteo with a smile.

The whole situation started to stink to Nott. He decided to quickly capture one of the priests and then kill everybody else in the area. He drew his wand and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

Matteo didn't even bother to reach for his cross. He just blinked and cast one of the first and most simple "spells" he had been taught.

The killing curse hit a shield and harmlessly dissipated. The shield was completely unaffected by the curse. Nott stared in disbelief, he never saw anything like that to happen.

After the shock passed, all the wizards started to bath both priests in a barrage of spells. The priests just stood there. It was clearly visible that they were not strained or anything. Their shields obviously weren't stopping the spells by their superior energy. Instead, it seemed that they were exploiting the very nature of the wizarding spells to stop them - in a way that only priests with their peculiar art were able to.

While the wizards were focused on the priests, the paladins and the soldiers charged. The wizards suddenly found themselves in a crossfire. One of them cried, "Shields!" and those who weren't shot yet, erected special kinetic protections around them. One of them, a rookie apparently, cast only a simple Protego. Before his comrades could warn him, a soldier started to shoot at him from his rifle. The shield held three bullets but the fourth went through and hit his shoulder.

While the other priest was defending himself, Matteo stepped back and dispelled the protective magic that the wizards weaved around themselves. The bullets had their way clear again and it soon became obvious that the wizards had lost. Nott wanted to apparate away but Matteo hit him with a rather complicated spell that anchored him. Matteo then drew his sidearm and told Nott, "I think it would be wise if you dropped your wand and surrendered, son."

The area was cleared of any evidence afterwards. Injured wizards were tended to and then loaded in a helicopter that arrived. The whole company then left and the field was silent once again.

All three helicopters landed on a grassy grounds that belonged to the military base where the priests and paladins stayed. Soon, a Jeep arrived and Rattazzi and lieutenant Armo Marino (the leader of the platoon) got out of it and walked towards the helicopters.

"Matteo, nothing is really enough for you, is it?" called Rattazzi. "You were supposed to stop the dementors and now I hear that you actually engaged wizards."

"They were with the dementors." replied Matteo and frowned.

"Well, you did a good job. A total victory and no losses on our side. Congratulations."

Rattazzi then walked to the prisoners and gazed at each of them. His hate was obvious from his face.

"Who is you leader?" he asked.

Nott knew that there was no reason to conceal his status (since Matteo already knew the answer) and snarled, "You are going to pay for this. The Dark Lord will make you wish you were never born!"

Rattazzi drew his sidearm and aimed at him. Lieutenant Marino caught his arm and said, "No. As a leader, he has the most information."

Rattazzi lowered the gun, leaned towards Marino and whispered, "Drug them, interrogate them and then execute them all. Their leader first. You know that we can't hold them for too long."

Lieutenant just nodded and issued orders.

* * *

><p>"Do you have any idea where did they go?" asked Kingsley.<p>

"No." answered Ron.

Hermione continued, "We were waiting for them in front of the village, prepared to defend it. When they weren't coming, we went to search for them - we thought that they just steered to another target. However, the dementors were gone. It was as if they disappeared."

"Have you noticed anything unusual?" asked Kingsley another question.

"Well, the whole thing stank and we didn't want to hang out there for too long. So no, we haven't seen anything strange, we left as soon as possible." replied Ron.

"What if they were attacked by other wizards?" pondered Hermione.

"A such big group of dementors? A few rebellious wizards wouldn't be able to tackle them. If there was anybody out there capable of such a feat, we would know about them." replied Kingsley. "Anyway, we have bigger problems to worry about. Go and have some rest now. And tell Harry about this if you meet him."

Ron and Hermione went to another part of the cave they were hiding in. It was morning and the community was waking up. They met Ginny, who was returning from her morning hygiene.

"Hey sis!" called Ron, attempting to sound jovially.

Ginny was rather sombre. She just replied, "Huh?"

"Have you seen Harry? We have some news for him." asked Hermione.

"He's probably still in his room." mumbled Ginny. Hermione and Ron nodded and went there, Ginny followed.

Harry's "room" was a small space surrounded by thin plywood.

"Harry? Can we go in?" called Hermione. There was an unintelligible grunt from the inside. Hermione and others stepped inside. It was dark inside and the air was musty. A small camp bunk and Harry's trunk were the only pieces of furniture in there.

"I said leave me alone." said Harry. He was still lying on his bunk and showed no notion of getting up.

"Harry, something's up. Kingsley thought that you should know." told him Hermione.

Harry growled but then he sat up and lit a candle. Ron and Hermione repeated what they told Kingsley.

"So, what do you think?" asked Hermione when they finished.

"Well, it's obvious that Tom has other enemies then us now. That is, unless those dementors suddenly decided that they don't want to hurt people anymore."

"Yes, but who are those other people? Some local vigilantes?" asked Ron.

"Don't be ridiculous!" snapped Harry. "British wizards are scared shitless for their pathetic lives. I find it hard to believe that there would suddenly grow a new group of rebels in such an environment. No, everybody who is against the current regime is here with us."

Hermione was silent and Ron just remarked, "Yeah, that's what Kingsley said."

Ginny then pondered, "And what if they are from abroad? What if for example the French sent somebody?"

Hermione cleared her throat and said, "Well, I think that that's as much as improbable. Other European wizards have enough trouble fighting the Death Eater agents in their own countries. And wizards overseas have their own problems."

"Anyway, we should keep our eyes open and contact those people if possible." stated Harry and got up from his bed.

* * *

><p>Two cardinals walked in a silent corridor in the Apostolic Library.<p>

"I say we should continue in the same way. I don't like Gruber's plans." said the first cardinal.

"Please, see the reason. We can't tolerate those spawns of devil any longer." opposed the second one.

"Do you even listen to what he says? Do you listen to what you say? Your words reek of racism. Try to switch the word wizard for black or Jew and you will sound like certain somebody."

The second cardinal rubbed the bridge of his nose. Then he opened a door and the first cardinal went in.

"I really regret that you see things this way." said the second cardinal, closed the door and walked away. Inside, the first cardinal bewilderedly stared at the closed door. Then he heard a cough behind him and turned around to face his assassin.

* * *

><p>Marco was again in a helicopter. Three soldiers were with him.<p>

"Fly low and stop to hover behind the edge of the wood, it will give us some cover." said Marco to the pilot.

They received a message from the local police that they received a strange call from a villa behind the village. Rattazzi's people ordered the cops to stay back and sent the closest operative to investigate.

When the helicopter slowed down, Marco and the soldiers rappelled from the helicopter. Then they ran through the wood and two minutes later, they reached the villa. Marco shielded the group from the detection spells and called the HQ.

"What's on infra?" he asked.

"Four heat sources. I think it's the hostiles."

Marco and his companions got to the back door. Before they entered, Marco warned them, "Remember, I can't anchor then like Cafasso can. If we screw up, they'll escape."

They proceeded with their guns with silencers aimed. Soon enough, they found a body of a boy. He was killed by a knife.

Then they heard a sound of a breaking china from the next room and then footsteps. They all took cover. A young Death Eater entered and before he could react, Marco silenced him by a head-shot. Then they were contacted by the HQ again. They were told that the other three sources were probably above them and that one of them was cooling down.

Marco and the others went upstairs. There were two more wizards and a man hanging from a beam. They turned around and wanted to leave but Marco attacked and shot the wizard in front. He fell in the arms of the other wizard. Marco and the soldiers continued to shoot but all the bullets were stopped by the dead body. That gave the remaining wizard enough time to come out of the surprise and shoot a killing curse. Marco blocked it and rushed toward the Death Eater. He tackled him down and forcefully gripped his hand with the wand and twisted it. When the wizard was disarmed, Marco took his head in both hands and banged it on the floor. Then he raised his fist and punched him in his face a few times.

"Sir, I think he had enough. We would like to question him." said one of the soldiers.

"I know, I know. Just want to be sure that he's drowsy enough to be unable to try anything." replied Marco.

Two hours later, Marco met Matteo at the HQ.

"I heard you had another action today." said Matteo.

"Yeah. They took control of a guy and made him kill his whole family. Then they hanged him and made it look like a suicide." replied Marco.

Matteo patted Marco's back and remarked, "Horrible."

"And do you know what the guy we interrogated said? That it was their duty to disinfest this world from our filth. He said that they were actually bothered by that since we are so disgusting but that they had to do it. Which is quite fortunate if you ask me. This way they are at least quick and clean. I'm afraid that if they actually enjoyed it, the fate of that family would be much worse."

Matteo stared at his friend and then said, "Just don't let all of this to absorb you. If you let hate to control you, you will loose your powers."

Marco swallowed the remark he wanted to make. How could Matteo remain so calm in face to all of what was happening?

Matteo's and Marco's next two weeks followed the same pattern. First platoons from British army were dedicated for the cause and the Italians started to prepare them for action.

They had several more hits on wizards and continued to hunt dementors, who were detectable by Matteo. They were split and each of the priests and paladins worked alone (only with a squad of soldiers) to be able to cover a larger area.

Both Matteo and Marco were constantly busy. So busy, that they had no time left to ponder Rattazzi's (and his superiors') plans.

* * *

><p>In a large, sparsely lit room, a group of Death Eaters was sitting around a table.<p>

"It's not possible! That Kingsley's and Potter's pathetic group of rebels is incapable of such a thing. They simply don't have enough resources to pull something like that," stated one of them forcefully.

"And what if all those missing dementors just left?" proposed another.

"Don't be ridiculous. Why would they..." opposed yet another and then fell silent. "They wouldn't leave just like that, would they?"

Everybody was silent. They were waiting if they leader wanted to say something.

Their leader Voldemort was sitting on a big, heavy chair at the head of the table. He was pondering all the information he received.

Then he said, "I find it hard to believe that they would leave in such a large quantities and before the feeding, not after. As for the missing wizards, those who were with dementors might have been killed by them. And those who weren't - well, one could say that Kingsley and his people got them."

The Death Eaters watched their leader, barely breathing.

"But something isn't right here," continued Voldemort. "Something isn't right and we have to find out what. We shall prepare a trap..."

* * *

><p>The vote concluded and the scrutineers started to count the ballots. One of them read each ballot aloud. The name Gruber was heard frequently.<p>

Some of the cardinals were feeling uneasy since there were a few of them missing or dead. However, nobody said anything.

When everything was counted and checked, the result was announced to the cardinals. None of them were surprised.

Soon, a white smoke was rising for the people in St Peter's Square to see and the Cardinal Dean asked the pope-elect the usual question. Gruber gave the usual affirmative answer and his papacy began.


	3. Chapter 3

A Trap

Father Matteo and a squad of soldiers stood on a motorway. It was a dark, cold and wet night. Another soldier was inside a black van parked next to the road, pouring himself a cup of tea.

"They are approaching!" hissed Matteo loudly and the soldier hissed in pain as he spilt a bit of the hot tea on his hand.

The group prepared for battle. All the soldiers stood next to the priest, in a tight formation. Matteo regretted that Marco or one of the other priests wasn't with him. Then again, dementors weren't very intelligent and it wasn't too bold to hope that they would simply keep going at them until they destroyed them all.

Soon, the usual signs of dementor presence arrived and shortly after that, the dementors themselves. They sensed the group and headed towards them. Matteo raised his cross and the soldiers prepared their flame-throwers.

The dementors attacked and were met in kind. They weren't crushed like on the first action but they couldn't win neither. Matteo's holy light and soldiers' flames were slowly but surely destroying the creatures.

When it was over, the soldiers prepared their rifles and sidearms and started to look around with their IR goggles. Matteo cursed the inconvenience, there was no satellite above the area.

Less then a minute later, a several junior Death Eaters arrived. They were a bit surprised to find muggles at the scene but they attacked swiftly. One of them stayed behind and activated his Dark Mark. Others started to hurl every curse they could think of.

Matteo and the soldiers hid behind the holy shield and returned the fire. When the initial attack was broken, they rushed forward. Before the inexperienced wizards could regroup, they were fighting a loosing battle. A two minutes later, almost all of them were either dead or incapacitated.

Suddenly, a howl sounded through the air.

"Werewolf!" yelled Matteo and the soldiers made a defensive formation around him.

The creature smelled blood and charged without a second thought. Matteo's art was useless against him. While he had read about something that might help a werewolf willing to accept help, he didn't know about anything that could help him in a battle against a hostile one.

The soldiers saw the charging beast and opened fire. The werewolf took some lead and howled in pain. Then he dived in the middle of the group. Matteo dived out of its way but one of his men wasn't so lucky. Everybody tried to shoot the beast but it was risky, since it was in their midst. One of the soldiers accidentally shot another in his leg. It was chaos.

In the meantime, a group of senior Death Eaters led by Avery watched the scene.

"Muggles." snarled one of them in disgust.

"No, one of them certainly isn't." said a wizard from the first group and then quickly explained.

The werewolf was bleeding heavily and his strength was waning. Matteo healed one of the injured men and the other soldiers finished the beast. Suddenly two flame spells hit the van and it exploded when the magical flames hit the tank. The soldiers turned towards it and then one of them was slain by a killing curse before Matteo put up the shield again which stopped the other curses. The soldiers cursed and started to fire in a direction from which the spells were coming. They quickly realized that they were caught in a crossfire.

The shield held but then they were hit by a shower of small stones and gravel. The soldiers were somewhat protected by their armour but Matteo was hit and the shield vanished for a brief while. Their enemies were no rookies and took that opportunity to fell a few more soldiers. The squad realized that they were outmanoeuvred.

After Matteo raised his shield again, the wizards continued in their barrage of spells but some of them used magically propelled stones instead. Matteo tried to deflect or at least slow them down but his art wasn't ideal for such things and he wasn't in a situation where he could concentrate properly.

Then several wizards managed to get closer and targeted the ground in front of the soldiers and the priest, just outside the boundary of his shield. The ground exploded and the shockwave of the spells continued towards the soldiers. The magical energy was stopped by Matteo's shield but the tremor itself was enough to make him and his comrades loose their footing.

Before Matteo could raise the shield again, the soldiers were dead. Matteo himself survived because the wizards didn't want to kill him yet. The closest one pointed his wand at him and yelled, _"Crucio!"_

The pain struck Matteo and he was incapacitated for a short while. The wizards started to gather around him and laughed. Then Matteo started to fight the pain and to convince himself that it wasn't real - which was probably true. When he regained control over himself again, he snarled through gritted teeth, "Fuck you!"

The dark curse was pushed away and the casting Death Eater staggered and fell backward from the backslash. Matteo quickly rolled to the corpse of the nearest soldier and took his sidearm (he lost his own during the fight). One of the wizards fell dead before anybody could react. The wizards immediately attacked but Matteo had his shield up already. Unfortunately, the magazine in his gun wasn't infinite and when he ran out of ammo, several wizards tackled him physically. Two of them held him and third started to beat him.

"That will do for now." said Avery when Matteo was sufficiently unfocussed. Then he glared at Matteo and spat, "Who are you? What kind of freakish arts were those?"

"Bite me." responded the priest weakly. Avery nodded at the Death Eaters and Matteo was rewarded by several punches for his cheek.

Five minutes later, Avery was no wiser then before. He grabbed Matteo's hair and told him, "You truly are one tough guy. What are we going to do with you?"

"Sir," addressed him one of his fellow Death Eaters, "shouldn't we get going? We can interrogate him back at the base."

"No!" opposed Avery. "As long as we don't know what he is I'm not bringing him anywhere where he can cause harm. But we can take this elsewhere, that's true."

The wizards then agreed to regroup in a forest which was twenty kilometres north. They started to apparate and Matteo saw his chance. While he was in no condition to prevent others from apparating, he could at least anchor himself - and that was all he needed.

Some Death Eaters were already away when Avery grabbed Matteo's arm. The priest concentrated with all his might to stay in place. Avery started to apparate himself and presumably Matteo with him. To his surprise, he found out that Matteo wouldn't move and he himself was yanked back.

"What's wrong?" asked one of the three Death Eaters who were still on site.

Avery looked around and then replied, "It seems that our friend here is full of surprises. Maybe he needs to be beaten unconscious."

In that moment, Matteo moved and delivered a left hook to Avery's face who released his grip on his arm then. The priest then dived towards the nearest corpse of a soldier and wanted to take a gun. However, one of the wizards flicked his wand and summoned him. Matteo had no protection at the moment and so the spell affected him. He soared through the air and after he landed, the caster kicked him in his stomach.

"As I said, you really need to be beaten unconscious." stated Avery.

The wizards converged around the priest and began their work on him. Suddenly, spells were shot at them and one of the Death Eaters was blasted away. They quickly took cover and erected shields.

Avery ducked under a hex and then snarled at Matteo, "Go to hell you freak!" and shot a dark curse at him. Matteo wanted to protect himself but wasn't very successful. The curse went through his incomplete shield and although it was weakened, it still hit him painfully in his chest. Matteo cried as his flesh was cut and corrupted by the dark magic.

Avery wanted to cast another spell and finish him but then he heard somebody to address him, "Avery. How nice to see you again."

Avery raised his head, he knew the voice. He stood up to face his opponent and spat, "Potter."

Near them, Ron and Neville were duelling the other two Death Eaters. They had the edge but they were in no position to help Harry. Also, they weren't expecting to fight that night.

Avery started to say something but Harry interrupted him with a cutting curse which Avery blocked with ease. Matteo gave out one last groan and then he fainted.

One minute later, Ron managed to subdue his opponent but before he could join Neville, the other Death Eaters started to came back to see what kept Avery. Ron managed to get a few of them right after they apparated and before they realized what was happening. Nevertheles, both he and Neville found themselves in quite a tight spot soon.

In the meantime, Harry was fighting Avery. Harry's hexes were splattering on Avery's shield one after one while the force of Avery's blockable curses always made Harry stagger and he had a hard time dodging the unblockable ones.

"You are pathetic Potter!" taunted Avery. "It's almost as if you were even less skilled and powerfull than when we fought in the Department of Mysteries two years ago."

Harry remained silent and fought him with all his might. He realized that he had to finish Avery quickly or he and his friends would find themselves in a big trouble. Unfortunately, he actually struggled to not to be defeated.

Avery flicked his wand and shot a powerful bludgeoning curse which went through Harry's shield. Harry was kicked in his belly by it and was thrown backwards. His wand slipped from his hand in the process. He shook his head to clear his vision and then rolled away just in time to evade Avery's cutting curse.

He realized that he rolled over something and that that something was a body of a dead soldier. He covered behind it as another curse came. As he was doing so, he felt something hard. A normal wizard wouldn't react so quickly but Harry was raised by muggles and so he recognized it and instinctively knew what to do. He took it, aimed at Avery and pulled the trigger. Luckily for him, the gun was loaded and the safety was off.

Avery saw the danger and began to cast a kinetic shield but he wasn't quick enough. A bullet went through his chest and then another and another. Avery sank to his knees and blood poured from his nose and mouth.

Harry quickly found his wand and with a flick of it he severed Avery's head for a good measure. Then he went to help his friends.

Soon, it was all over. They burned everything in the area to cover any tracks and disapparated with still unconscious Matteo away.

* * *

><p>Matteo was lying on a hard surface. Everything was a blur and the voices around him sounded distant.<p>

"I can't dispell it, that dark curse is killing him!" said somebody.

"Lift his head and pour this potion in his throat!" said somebody else.

Matteo felt that he was being prodded and poked. They were waving their wands around him and massaged some substance in his marred chest.

"Can you save him?" asked Kingsley.

"Here? Without proper equipment and personal? No." answered the healer.

"Very well. Make him to wake up then."

"Sir?"

"Do it. I need to talk to him."

"He probably won't be able to say much but as you wish."

They poured another potion in Matteo's throat and cast a few spells on him. That was all he needed.

"My cross." he croaked.

"Mister, this is important." said Kingsley. "We don't have much time. My people saved you from those Death Eaters you fought earlier tonight. I need to know..."

"My cross." repeated Matteo.

Harry quickly took his cross from the table nearby and gave it to him. The priest clutched it. It was just an ordinary cross but it helped him to focus. He raised his other hand and waved it above his chest. To everybody's amazement, the dark curse was broken and soon after that, the flesh started to regenerate. Matteo then closed his eyes, the cross slipped from his fingers and he fell asleep soon.

Everybody just stared at what occurred before their eyes. It was against the laws of magic - injuries caused by dark curses are generally incurable by magic.

"What was that?" exclaimed Kingsley.

"I don't know, but he obviously needs rest. Let's leave him alone for now." said the healer.

Matteo was covered by a blanket and then everybody left.

Not much later, Harry was concluding his report about what happened.

"It was... really bad." he said. "Avery was kicking my arse like nothing."

"Well, than it seems that you defeated an opponent who was much stronger than you. You have nothing to be ashamed of." said Kingsley.

"I was lucky."

"Aren't you always?"

Harry didn't respond. Kingsley stared at the map of Britain for a moment and then asked, "Have you and your friends found out what's happening to you?"

"Well, it's probably caused by my connection to a certain friend of mine. But apart from that, we don't know much."

"And have you made any progress in severing it?"

"No sir." answered Hermione. "And I'm quite sure that it's beyond possibilities of magic to do such a thing without killing Harry."

* * *

><p>Marco Rua strode in the control room.<p>

"What happened to Cafasso? Where is he?" he asked demandingly.

Rattazzi's eyes left the map he was looking at and turned to Marco.

"We don't know. We are still gathering information." he said.

"Gathering information?" repeated Marco. "That means that a team was sent in their last known location?"

"Not yet, it might be a trap." snapped Rattazzi. He realized that Rua was going to be as troublesome as Cafasso.

Marco pushed past Rattazzi and scanned the intel on the table. The map, Matteo assignment and such. Then he ran outside.

"Rua!" shouted Rattazzi but Marco ignored him. One of Rattazzi's associates moved to follow Marco but Rattazzi stopped him. If nothing else, he might be able to use it against him as a case of insubordination.

* * *

><p>Ginny silently entered Matteo's room. Careful not to wake the sleeping man, she put the tray with food on the night table and then turned back to the door.<p>

"Thank you." said Matteo suddenly. He awoke.

Ginny turned back and replied, "You are welcome. Is this particular food all right for you? I can try to find somebody who will transfigure it into something else."

"Eat what they give you, said Jesus." said Matteo with a smile. Then sniffed at the food and added, "Especially when you are hungry and the food is appetizing."  
>Then he started to devour the meal and apologized between the bites, "Sorry for my manners, but I'm really hungry."<p>

Ginny laughed and replied, "Be glad that you are. We thought that you were dead for sure. It was really amazing what you did - and without a wand to boot."

Matteo just nodded and kept eating.

"Are you from Italy?" asked Ginny. She guessed so from his accent and tan.

"Bravo. Matteo Cafasso, to your service." replied Matteo. He didn't say "father Matteo" - he didn't want to uncover his allegiance yet.

Ginny in her curiosity continued with a light conversation and Matteo was giving her a short replies while he ate. The food was gone soon and Ginny collected the tray.

"OK, rest a bit more now. The others would like to talk to you. Are you going to be up to it?"

"Yes, sure." replied Matteo and lay back in the bed.

* * *

><p>Marco landed the helicopter and got out. The area was scorched.<p>

"Start searching." he ordered.

"Sir, are we really supposed to be here?" asked one of the two soldiers who were with him.

"I have not thought about that yet. Now find Cafasso or his body."

They found remnants of the van and pieces of equipment and dog-tags of the soldiers who were with Matteo but nothing else. However, Marco detected a hight level of residual magical energy.

"Rua! You are in a big trouble!" exclaimed Rattazzi when the paladin returned.

"Save it. They were ambushed. The soldiers are all dead and Cafasso is missing."

"Missing?"

"Probably. He wasn't there. We found no body, no dog-tags, no cross or anything of his. We should assume that he fell in the hands of enemy."

Rattazzi wasn't stupid. If he was, he would reply something like "He knew the risks and we don't have enough men to search for him." and would be happy to be rid of him. But Rattazzi was smart and saw the whole situation for something else: the enemy learning about them and their plans. If that happened, it would be an open war. He had to speak with his superiors.

* * *

><p>Matteo entered the cave where Kingsley and others were waiting for him. Ginny introduced everybody to him. After that, the wizards started to bombard him with questions.<p>

The priest raised his hands and said, "Please, there is no rush. Before we begin, let me express my gratitude for saving my life. I thought I was dead for sure. Also, let me ask you this: who are you? Some kind of resistance against the Death Eaters?"

Others looked at each other and Ron then asked, "You don't know us?"

Matteo shook his head and so Ginny quickly explained. Matteo was satisfied with that for the moment and resolved to learn more later.

"That's really amazing." he said. "I always suspected that there is still some resistance left in Britain but this is better than I ever hoped. We thought that the Death Eaters took over the country completely and there is no significant force to challenge them."

"We? Who is that? Who are you?" asked Kingsley.

Matteo scratched behind his ear and then replied, "Well, you saw what I did. I reckon that magic can't heal injuries caused by dark curses, right? No wizarding magic. But I'm not a wizard. And what I did was no magic."

"Pardon me? But how did you do what you did? Who and what are you really?"

"I am a priest."

There was a little commotion after that statement which did not lessened after Matteo explained the whole thing. Some of the present wizards found the whole idea unbelievable and some others could not believe that the wizards didn't know about it.

After they finished discussing that topic, they started to talk about the situation. Matteo told them what was he doing in England at all and about the new Pope and his plans. He didn't forget to mention the fact that the church now considered every wizard in Britain hostile. The atmosphere darkened after that considerably. The wizards then summarized the conflict with Voldemort.

The meeting then concluded since everybody had much to think about.


	4. Chapter 4

Attack

Marco Rua was seething with anger. After his argument with Rattazzi, it had been "suggested" to him to take a week long vacation. And so, he was sitting in a room in London while Matteo Cafasso was out there.

Suddenly, his cell rang.

"Hello? Marco Rua speaking." he answered it.

"Can we talk?" responded the caller. Marco immediately recognized Matteo's voice.

"Yes, it's safe. Where the hell are you? I was worried."

"I'm fine. I have contacted you as soon as I could."

"What happened?" asked Marco.

"They called for reinforcements and overpowered us. There were too few of us. Fortunately for me, some allies arrived."

"Allies?"

"The resistance against Voldemort."

"You mean..."

"Yes, exactly."

Marco fell silent for a moment. Then he spoke again, "Are you telling me that you are now consorting with _them_? Do you know how could that be seen by our superiors?"

"I know. You must not tell anybody."

"Sure, I'm not completely demented you know."

"Well, that's good to hear." teased Matteo.

"Shut it. Can I meet you? It's not like I have anything to do, I'm on a vacation."

"Of course. In fact, I think I might need your hand. Are they following you?"

"Maybe. But I should be able to slip away."

"Do you have a gun?"

"No." replied Marco. "I had to leave all my equipment at the base and I won't be able to snatch anything - not after I borrowed a helicopter without permission."

"What? Oh, no matter. But could you get to my things? I need you to bring me some books and my notes."

* * *

><p>Matteo and Ginny, who had grown quite fond of him, were sitting in the mess hall. The others, who had been sitting and talking there with them before, had already left. The priest was telling the girl about Italy. He recognized that she was troubled with something and so he gently touched the topic after a while.<p>

"I really shouldn't talk about that, it would be..." said Ginny, trailing off.

"A breach of Harry's privacy?" offered Matteo.

"Yes. How did you know it was about him?"

"Well, they say that I understand people."

Ginny then admitted that she always had a soft spot for Harry and told Matteo about their history.

"And then, when I saw him again and this group was formed, he was... distant and impassive - to me and everybody else. We never got together again." she concluded her story.

Matteo for a moment contemplated if he should throw in a joke about a failed love being one of his reasons to became a priest but then decided against it. Instead, he remained silent.

"It just tears me apart to see him so depressed and low." added Ginny.

"Just be patient with him. He needs you more then you would believe. His problems aren't in his head, they are real and need to be solved. But this is something I need to discuss with him, if he lets me."

"Fat chance. You represent the same world that he spent his childhood in, he has no reason to trust you."

"Oh. And here I thought we would be good friends since he helped me out of a trouble." said Matteo but he wasn't very surprised. Harry intrigued him more and more.

* * *

><p>Marco Rua entered a kosher restaurant in London. He looked around and detected a wizard. He sat opposite from him and said the agreed phrase and received the correct reply.<p>

"Anybody follows you?" asked the wizard then.

"Nope."

"Let's go them."

They got in the backyard and the wizard produced a pebble.

"Touch it." he said.

Both men were soon in the base of the resistance, where Kingsley and Matteo awaited them. They moved to a secluded cave.

"So what is this about?" asked Marco.

"We have to prove to our superiors that not all wizards in Britain are with Voldemort and that the resistance is still active." answered Matteo.

After Matteo and Kingsley explained their idea, Marco objected, "But I don't have any weapons or equipment."

"That doesn't matter." said Matteo. "In fact, it's better that way."

Kingsley explained, "If the wizards there saw you with a machine gun, they would consider us traitors and it might lean the support of the public to Death Eaters."

"Well, I'm a paladin. I need a weapon."

"Don't you have a training for a sword?" asked Matteo and opened an oblong box.

Marco raised an eyebrow and asked, "Isn't this a bit medieval?"

"Nope." opposed Matteo. "A footman or a knight with a sword - that's medieval. But a paladin with a magical sword pulled from a hat fighting side to side with a priest and a bunch of wizards? That's outright fantasy."

"And be sure to stock on magical gadgets and potions." added Kingsley with a poker face.

Marco groaned. Then he said, "We are still outnumbered."

"Well, I believe that Harry might help us to divert part of those numbers elsewhere."

* * *

><p>The cave was filled with wizards, all prepared for action. Harry and Neville were there too.<p>

"You have your instructions, now go." addressed them Kingsley for one last time.

Harry and Neville apparated to a small village on a coast. They found the motorboat that was prepared for them.

"Now, I believe I need to turn this key..." pondered Neville aloud.

"Move it Neville." grunted Harry.

"Oh. Of course. I bet you understand these things better than I do." said Neville and made space for Harry who started the engine.

Harry looked at his friend. The whole think stank to him and Neville was smiling apologetically. That was probably because he knew that Harry suspected something.

After an hour, Neville told Harry to stop and scanned the horizon with non-magical binoculars.

"Now what?" asked Harry.

"Now we wait. Here, take this and observe. Don't let me distract you."

Harry took the binoculars and refocused for his eyesight. He was looking at the sinister outline of Azkaban. He was more and more convinced that this was a scam but he just gritted his teeth and masked those feelings - he didn't want the whole thing to be in vain.

Behind Harry's back, Neville pulled out a crystal ball and activated it. It started to record its surroundings.

* * *

><p>In the meantime, Kingsley and others were preparing for their action in London. Many of the wizards who were part of the operation learned the real target in the last possible moment.<p>

Hermione sat in the prepared car and drove it through the streets of the city. When she reached her destination, she fixated the wheel and the gas pedal and apparated out. The car drove in the public toilets at top speed and exploded like in a cheap action movie.

Kingsley, Matteo, Marco and the rest of their group were prepared.

"Follow me. I hope it's still working." said Kingsley.

They went to a dirty side-alley. Kingsley opened a stinking garbage container and vanished its contents.

"Ok, in." he told the others. The whole group fit inside.

"This is ridiculous." growled Marco.

"Says a paladin." sneered Matteo.

Kingsley closed the container from inside.

* * *

><p>Neville finished the recording. Then he addressed Harry, "Uh, dude? Such an intense observing can be unhealthy for your eyes. It's my turn now."<p>

Harry understood and handed over the binoculars. Then he sat down and rubbed his closed eyes. He concentrated on the sensation.

Neville activated the portkey and they returned to the base. Neville quickly set up the projection. When Harry opened his eyes again, there was the sea around them again and Azkaban loomed in the distance. It was noticeable that they were actually in a cave but Harry made his best not to concentrate on details.

* * *

><p>Kingsley and his group were wreaking a havoc and destruction inside the Ministry. Or at least, inside what was left of it.<p>

As they expected, diversion worked and there weren't many Death Eaters. Some ministry guards fought them but most employees just ran.

When they got further inside, they split. Bulk of the group stayed with Matteo who protected them with impenetrable shield. Marco, Kingsley and two others formed a smaller group and were destroying specific targets.

* * *

><p>Dementors formed a wide ring around the motorboat. Several Death Eaters descended to it, none of them was senior.<p>

"As we expected, they are gone." said one of them and landed.

The sensor charms were triggered and the boat exploded.

* * *

><p>Marco and Kingsley reached Thicknesse's office. The paladin kicked the door open. The minister was still there - the attack was so swift that he failed to flee in time.<p>

"You know, it's one thing to betray while you are under _Imperius_..." said Kingsley and wanted to continue but Thicknesse and his guards started to cast unforgivables. Marco effortlessly deflected them and in the next second, he reached the traitor. While Kingsley covered his flanks, Marco took a swing with his sword and Thicknesse's head found itself suddenly unattached to his body.

Matteo's and Marco's group then reunited.

"Time to close the bar." shouted Kingsley.

While several incendiary devices they had set earlier were going of, the wizards conjured some uncontrolled Fiendfyres around them.

"Now father." ordered Kingsley and pulled out a rope. Matteo disrupted the wards around them and everybody grabbed the rope. The support groups outside the Ministry received a signal and retreated as well.

* * *

><p>Matteo and Kingsley said goodbye to Marco who had to return to avoid suspicion. The priest then walked around the base for the next few minutes, he was looking for somebody.<p>

After a few minutes, he saw Ginny. She was standing in front of a closed door and lightly knocking at them.

"Is he inside?" asked Matteo.

Ginny nodded and said, "Yeah. I've been trying to get to him for a while. But he doesn't want to talk to anybody. I bet he is quite angry after that trick we played on him."

"Maybe he isn't angry. Maybe he is just too ashamed to face you."

"What? Why would he be?"

"I'm just guessing, I won't know for sure until I talk to him."

Matteo then knocked on the door.

"Go away!" replied Harry's voice from inside.

Matteo waved his hand and all the magic on the door was gone. There was no lock so he tried to open it but it was wedged from the other side.

"Can you shatter the hinges?" asked the priest.

"I don't know. He's going to be angry."

"Please?"

Ginny quickly cast two spells and the door fell with a thud. The priest stepped in.

"Get out." shouted Harry and cast a banishing charm.

Matteo dissolved it and said, "I'm sorry to disrupt your solitude but I was seeking it myself and this seems to be the least crowded room in the base."

Harry glared at him. Ginny in the meantime repaired the door.

"Is that you there, Ginny?" called Harry.

The girl stuttered, "Well, uhm. I'll just... go and look... if somebody doesn't need help... with something."

Harry rubbed his scar. Matteo inconspicuously gripped his cross in his pocket and waved his hand. Then he asked, "Does it hurt?"

"A bit. He isn't angry too much, the ministry probably was no big loss for him. Now get out."

"Do you really have to be such an ass?"

Harry just snorted.

Matteo continued, "I owe you an apology. I participated on the preparation of this operation - including the game we played on you."

"As I said earlier to Neville, it's all right. It was a logical thing to do. I understand that it wasn't possible to tell me about the trick beforehand. And at least, Tom won't believe things he sees through me in the future."

"Yes, that's probable. Look..."

Matteo trailed off when he sensed Harry's increasing irritation.

"I guess that if I tried to make you feel better with my talks you wouldn't appreciate it very much."

"Your inference is correct." replied Harry coldly.

"In that case, I'll skip the crap talk and go straight to the business."

Harry just raised an eyebrow.

"As you know, I'm not a wizard. My powers are different and based on entirely different principles. I can do effortlessly what you guys consider as impossible. Hence, I think I can help you where your friends failed."

"Phew. Do you?"

"From now on, I won't work on anything else. But I need to know as much as possible about this. What it is, how does it work, how have he done it and such."

"Well, our information aren't entirely complete. It would be best if we talked to Hermione."

Harry and Hermione told Matteo everything they knew about the night when Harry's parents died, Horcruxes and the reviving ritual performed by Wormtail. Finally, they told him about how they destroyed all the horcruxes, including the snake.

Hermione said in the end, "We expected him to grow weaker after that. I mean, he hasn't got much soul left. But no, he is as powerful as ever. And to make things worse, Harry began to be afflicted by this connection they have more then ever before."

"In what way?" asked Matteo.

"My magic is weaker and I tire easily. I was never strong but now I'm outright weak." answered Harry.

"You saved my life and beat an enemy much stronger than you while doing so. You can be hardly considered as weak." said Matteo.

Harry didn't reply to that. The priest then said that he would like to preliminarily examine Harry. He wanted to send Hermione away but when Harry told him that he didn't mind her, he allowed her to stay since she was curious about it. She just had to keep her distance.

Hermione transfigured a chair to make it more comfortable and Matteo told Harry to sit down on it and relax. Then he started to work his powers. There was no visible spellwork and he didn't even hold his cross. He just held his hand above Harry like some kind of detector, walked around him and sometimes murmured something.

When Matteo finished, he silently pondered the results and then asked some more questions about Hermione's research. He was especially interested in Horcruxes and even borrowed the book about them.

Then he said, "Well, we shall continue with this tomorrow. Marco brought me some books that might shed some light on this."

Matteo spent a good part of the following night reading and continued through the following morning. Then he sought Hermione.

"As I understood from this book you lent me, it is possible to create a Horcrux accidentally, right?" he asked bluntly.

Hermione shrugged and the answered, "Yes, it might be possible but we don't know for sure. It already crossed my mind that Harry might be some kind of Horcrux but that wouldn't explain everything. It would mean that Voldemort has only one Horcrux and that he mutilated himself more than he intended. But he is healthy like he never split his soul."

"Well, the thing is probably more complicated than you think." said Matteo. He had more to say but he considered Harry as his patient and didn't want to break his privacy.

"Look, Harry is already on an edge of collapse. If you tell him that he is a Horcrux, he will probably kill himself." warned Hermione.

Matteo raised an eyebrow and stated, "I fully intend to fix his condition without killing him. You can trust me on that."

Then he turned to leave but Hermione asked him, "May I join you again on the next session?"

"That won't be possible. We shall need privacy."

"But I can help."

"Miss, if my theory is correct, then your knowledge about magic is useless in this matter."

Hermione nodded in acknowledgement. Then she asked one last question, "Wait. What if _he_, you know - _he_, finds out about you and what you are doing?"

"That's not going to happen. Since I learned more about Harry's condition, I've been discreetly putting a sort of dampener on their connection so the information about me wouldn't pass through."

Hermione didn't say anything else after hearing that. Matteo then went out of the caves and called Marco. Then he sought Harry.


	5. Chapter 5

Exorcism

Harry and Matteo met again. They went through a brief meditation which helped Harry to relax a bit. Then Matteo examined Harry again, more thoroughly then before. This time, he knew what he was looking for. When he finished, he was frowning. The results were indicating that his theory is probably right.

"Harry, I'm detecting two connections between you and... well, _him_, I presume." said the priest.

Harry hung his head, but he wasn't very surprised.

The priest added, "I am already pretty sure what they are and how to remove them."

Harry looked up in surprise.

Matteo continued, "However, before we jump to the conclusion and before I can hope to remove it, I need more information."

"We already told you everything we know." replied Harry.

"No, not everything. I need to know more. About you, about him, about what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you have any other strange dreams apart from those in your fifth year? Have you ever remembered a memory that wasn't yours? Have you ever done something strange and couldn't explain it? What was your encounter with the diary like? What was his 16-year old self like? Have your scar ever hurt during your childhood? What was Riddle's childhood like? That and such are the things I need to know."

Harry scratched his head and then started to talk. He told the priest about how his scar began to hurt in his first year and about his encounter with the diary in his second. Then he jumped to his fourth year and complemented everything that the priest wasn't told yet. He finished with all the information about Voldemort that Dumbledore told him.

Matteo silently contemplated what he heard after Harry fell silent. He wasn't satisfied. For one, there were obvious gaps in Harry's story. For example his life before Hogwarts. At second, Matteo's senses, perfected by decades of listening to confessions, revealed that Harry wasn't telling him the whole truth even about the little what he said. The priest decided to let it go for the moment and then inquired about Voldemort. Soon, he knew as much as Harry.

In the end, Matteo said, "Well, let's call it a day. I can't say I'm satisfied with the information you gave me yet but it will do for now. Now stand still please."

The priest then took his cross and cast a complicate "spell" on Harry.

"What was that?"

"A little more intricate version of the ward I've been using to keep our meetings a secret from Mr. Riddle. It will last till tomorrow."

"Won't he get suspicious?"

"With a bit of luck, no. Now, this ward should allow you to have a good night sleep. But before you go to bed, I advise you spend the rest of the evening with a certain red headed girl who has her head full of you."

Harry wanted to snap at Matteo and tell him to mind his own business but the priest quickly strode out of the room. Harry didn't even consider doing what he was advised to do and decided to just grab some supper and go to bed early. But he obviously underestimated Matteo, because Ginny was already waiting for him.

"Damn!" thought Harry. "That Cafasso is even worse then Dumbledore."

Ginny approached him and attempted to maintain a conversation while they ate. Harry's side of conversation consisted mostly of grunts and one-syllable answers.

When he finished his meal, he excused himself, "I'm sorry but I need to rest - my sessions with father Cafasso are rather taxing."

His sleep that night was dreamless and refreshing.

He was woken up by loud banging on his door the following morning.

"Get up, lazy bones!" he heard Matteo shout.

Twenty minutes later, they started their next session.

"At first, let me give you a rhetorical question. Why are you treating Ginny the way you do?" asked Matteo.

"What? That's none of your business."

"Harry, I already know what's the most probable reason. I just want to know if you do as well."

Harry did not say anything to that.

"Is it because you feel that you are unworthy of her? That she would be better off without you?"

Harry growled, "I'm warning you, I'm fed up with old codgers sticking their noses in my life."

"At first, I'm not that old. At second, I have powers that Dumbledore didn't and thus I can actually do something useful for you."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Harry.

"No doctor operates before he knows a full diagnosis of his patient. So, let's get started."

The priest then inquired about Harry's childhood. Harry wasn't willing to tell him much since he was quite ashamed about the topic but Matteo got the picture.

He then asked, "You told me that Tom went and killed his father and grandparents. Have you ever considered getting some revenge on your muggle relatives?"

Harry darkly smirked, "Too late for that. They are dead. Probably."

The priest raised his eyebrow.

"I don't know what happened and I don't care - they are not worthy of that. However, we are quite sure that Death Eaters got them."

"I take it that they had no protection."

"Nope. I convinced Kingsley that it would be a waste of our limited resources."

"Was it true?"

"Yes. It was completely logical decision in our situation."

"But that wasn't your only reason."

"No." answered Harry and did not elaborate further.

Matteo then inquired about other things. Two hours later, Harry lost his patience.

"Hey, have these questions of yours have any sense at all?" he snapped.

"As I said, no doctor..."

"I know, I know. But I hardly know you and this level of confidentiality you demand is making me uneasy."

"Harry, you saved my life and it means a lot to me. Shouldn't that make us more than complete strangers?"

"Well, a bit. But how would you for example feel if I started to ask questions about your type of magic, huh?"

"It's not magic. But be my guest."

"Pardon?"

"You can ask me anything you want. Just don't make it a public knowledge that I've told you, my superiors would surely frown on that."

"Uh... very well then, tell me something."

"What exactly?"

"I don't know, some kind of overview that I would be able to understand."

Matteo started to talk. When he finished, Harry asked, "So, they can use their powers against Death Eaters but if they went against us, they would lose them?"

"Yes, something like that. However, even with this limitation, they will always play a strategical role in conjunction with the anti-wizard troops. And you are forgetting that if the wizards learned about this, it would provoke them into a war. And in that case, priests and paladins would be able to use their powers for defence. Well, let's not dwell on that now. Where have we ended with my little interrogation?"

Harry made a face and said, "Look, I really appreciate what you are doing for me but I would really like to know what is this about. What are your findings so far?"

Matteo scratched his head and then asked, "I guess that your old headmaster was keeping things from you, right?"

"Yes, he did."

"Very well them, I'm not going to do the same mistake. However, are you going to be able to objectively search your feelings even after you hear my theory?"

"I'll do my best."

"Very well then. Do you want to hear it right away? I could throw in a joke at first to lighten your mood."

Harry just glared at him.

"Ok, have it your way. As I said earlier, I've detected two connections in you. You already know that the first one was formed when Tom struck you with the killing curse - which is something I would very much like to look into later. Anyway, can you guess what is the nature of this first connection?"

"Well, it didn't come to my mind earlier but now, when we analyse it like this... he accidentally left a shard of his soul in me, right? I'm some kind of horcrux, right?"

"Yes. As far as I know, you are correct."

"Did Hermione know?"

"Yes. She was concerned that you might do something stupid if she told you."

Harry sighed and remarked, "Yet another person who lied to me for my own good. I guess I should be grateful to you."

"Not yet - I still have to remove it from you."

"Is it possible?"

"Yes. It will be difficult but not impossible. I mean, it will be difficult for you - for me, it will be quite straightforward."

"How do you mean that?"

"I'll explain later. Now, the second connection. Can you guess when it was formed?"

"Well, the only opportunity I can think of is when he was revived."

"Yes, I agree. This second connection is purely physical and sustains his body just like the first one sustains his soul and magic."

"Can you remove it?"

"Normally, I would have already. However, it seems that this second connection got somehow interlinked with the first one. So we need to work on the first one at first and then we shall be able to remove them both."

Harry thought for a while and then asked, "Why did he used me for his resurrection in the first place? Doesn't this interfere with his plan to kill me?"

"I seriously doubt that he actually knows what is he doing."

"And if I killed myself after we destroyed his last horcrux, wouldn't it crush him?"

"Yes, I suppose it would. But there is no reason for that now."

After a few moments, Harry continued, "I still don't understand one thing. I had these two connections with him for a long time. Why this weakness of mine didn't start earlier?"

"Well I guess that the draw of the soul connection was earlier evenly spread on all his horcruxes and the biological one on both contributors of his resurrection. But when you and your friends destroyed his horcruxes and when Peter died, it was all refocussed on you. Probably because you aren't just an object but a living person and the connection can drain the deficit directly from your energies."

Harry was disgusted. He exclaimed, "But how can this be? I've never agreed to this! He can't just drain me like that without my permission."

"He has it."

"What?"

Matteo sighed and then said, "Harry, trust me that what I tell you now isn't some kind of catholic demagoguery. By being a wizard (or by accepting your magic to be more precise), you made yourself vulnerable to this kind of stuff. If Tom did the same thing to a muggle, he wouldn't be able to drain their magic."

"Because they don't have any."

"Yes, that might be a reason."

After a while of silence, Harry asked, "How are you planning to remove it?"

"Well, I'll simply exorcise it. But I can't do it yet."

"Why not?"

"Because, the shard of Tom's soul in you is partially interlinked with yours."

Harry stared at him. Then he asked, "But how could that possibly be? Are you telling me that I'm merging with him?"

"No, not at all. However, there are some similarities between you and your subconsciousness might mistakenly recognize parts of his soul as yours and refuse to let go of them. In short, severing the connection now would hurt. Especially your magic. It would be like tearing a patch from a shirt - we need to remove the stitches first."

"But Dumbledore said that I'm not like him. What similarities are you talking about?"

"Mostly your childhoods. I've asked Marco to do some research to complement what you told me. He even met an old timer from the orphanage. There seems to be a lot of similarities, but also a lot of things that are different about you. He, like you, wasn't very popular among his guardians and peers. You both used magic when you needed but he did it more. When you learned the truth, both of you perceived magic as your salvation from the muggle hell. But he already thought about revenge. Both of you were forced to suppress your magic during summer, which was particularly bad for him. Marco learned that the other kids recognized that there were no more strange things happening around him. This is probably the reason why he hated Dumbledore so much - he put an end to his only way to defend himself."

"What can be done about this?" asked Harry.

"We shall focus on what makes you different. You need to know yourself and come in terms with it. Then, you will be able to recognize where your soul ends and his starts. Have you ever been to a confession?"

"Nope."

"Well, I've considered all our meetings as one. From now on, I'd like you to do the same. It will be difficult but it's necessary if we are to succeed."

Harry just sighed and nodded.

Matteo continued, "Now, I'm sure you are quite exhausted so I won't keep you for much longer. I'll just finish one last thing with you and I'll give your first homework. Do you need a while to gather yourself first?"

Harry nodded. Matteo left him alone and went to the mess hall to have some tea.

"Are you prepared?" he asked Harry when he returned.

"Yes."

"I started about it in the morning and now we shall finish it."

"Oh no, can't you leave her out of this?"

Matteo raised an eyebrow and remarked, "I'm glad that you remember that I've mentioned her at all. And no, I can't and won't leave her out of this. If not beacause of this whole horcrux business then at least because she doesn't deserve to be treated like this. Do you know how are you hurting her?"

"To be frank, no, I don't. There was never anybody in my life from whom I would be able to learn such things or who would be an example for me. And even if there was, I wouldn't go for it. It's simply better this way."

"Why?" asked the priest.

Harry wanted to beat him off but then he remembered their previous conversation and decided to be sincere at least a bit. He told Matteo, "Look. She had a crush on me since she was five years old. She built some kind of image around me - an image which was absolutely untrue. When she learned the truth, she snapped out of it a little. Still, I don't think I can meet her expectations. And I really hate to have expectations put on me. And hence, I'm refusing to give her any encouragement."

"Harry, I've been talking to her a lot and you can trust me when I tell you the she truly cares about you. And she really doesn't expect anything from you. In fact, she even feels a little guilty and stupid about bothering you all the time. But Harry, it's you who is acting stupid. You have a wonderful girl fawning around you and you are doing you best to ignore her. I say you are an idiot."

Harry pointed a finger on him and said, "Look, you don't understand. Even if I somehow survived this, even if I won't end up as a squib and even if I defeat Voldemort, then..."

Matteo leaned forward in his chair and asked, "Then what?"

"It's just... I don't think I have anything to offer her."

"Oh, yes you do. You could be nice to her for example."

"That's not what I meant. As I told you earlier, I'm not an ideal partner for her because of my upbringing. I mean, can you imagine me having my own family when all I've received from my guardians was abuse? And I don't think that I can take care of her. My parents and my godfather left me some money, but I think that everything was confiscated. And without the money I inherited... well, I'm quite a zero. There is nothing I'm particularly good at and even if my power grew after your treatment, I would still lack the skill. In short, she is better off without me."

Matteo blinked a few times and then asked, "Well, I think you are underestimating goblins. From what I heard about them, they wouldn't want to lose their credibility by letting somebody to confiscate what was entrusted to them. Anyway, we are in a middle of a war and you are concerned about you carrier after it?"

"No it's not exactly like that. I'm just trying to describe the general feeling I have about this."

"I think I understand. As I said in the morning, you feel insecure. You feel that you don't deserve her. Well, I'm not telling you to marry her. But you should really apologise and be nice to her." said the priest and left.

Harry pondered what he should do for some time and then went, sought Ginny and did as Matteo told him. If they were in a dramatic romance novel, Ginny would probably start playing hard-to-get and she would say something like "Now did you finally notice me, huh?" Luckily, they weren't and Ginny knew how much was on Harry's mind and was glad that for the first time in many months, he speaks to her with something more then forced civility.

In the following days, Matteo continued to prepare Harry for the separation. Harry soon found that it was like visiting a therapist, they were just approaching the problem from an entirely different angle. He was slowly opening to the priest and recognizing (as Matteo put it) "where he ended and Voldemort started".

One time, they decided to investigate what happened the night when Harry's parents died. It wasn't essential for the exorcism but Matteo still considered it important and was curious about it, since he did not believe that Harry's protection could had been created by wizarding magic. They borrowed a pensieve, invited Ginny to join them and examined Harry's memories. It took a whole day and a great amount of both wizarding and priestish magic but in the end, they managed to get a blurry recording of the last two minutes before Voldemort's destruction.

After they watched the memory in the best quality they could achieve, Matteo remained silent for a while and then said, "This is truly amazing."

"What?" asked Harry.

"What they teach at school is true - no wizarding magic can stop the killing curse. That is, unless you use it indirectly - to levitate an object in its path for example."

"So how is it possible that I am still alive?"

"Because your mother did not use wizarding magic."

"How do you mean that?"

Matteo stroked his chin and answered, "When I was studying the holy art, I've stumbled upon an interesting finding in an old scroll."

Harry was silent and waited for the priest to continue.

"Jesus said, that if somebody's faith was big at least as a mustard seed, nothing would be impossible for that person. It was written in the scroll that in special cases, somebody other then a priest or paladin wielding the holy power can use it. It would require a tremendous amount of faith, hope and love but it's possible."

"So you are saying that my mother accidentally cast a holy shield on me?"

"Yes. When she sacrificed herself for you, it was enough to do it."

Harry just stared and the priest.

"Do you know what this means?" asked Matteo.

Harry shook his head.

"It means that a witch used holy power and that you are under God's protection. This is a possible way to peace. At least, if my superiors believe me."

They discussed the matter a bit more. While they talked, Matteo gained a feeling that something was eating Harry. He asked him about it.

Harry replied, "It's just... God's power saved my life that night. What if he..." Harry trailed off.

"What if he saved you so you could neutralize Riddle one day?"

Harry nodded.

"You don't like being used, do you?" asked Matteo.

"No, I don't." confirmed Harry.

Matteo sighed and then said, "Harry, God did not make Trelawney make the prophecy, probably. He also did not make Snape overhear it. And he most certainly did not send Riddle after you. But when it came to either saving you or letting you die, it wasn't really a choice, was it? Anyway, as I was saying, it was your mother who called for his power."

Harry nodded. That was acceptable for him.


	6. Chapter 6

Free

Malvolio Rattazzi and lieutenant Marino were at their headquarters, talking to the agent they entrusted with spying on Marco Rua.

"Have you seen him doing anything unusual or suspicious?" asked Rattazzi.

"No. He stayed in his apartment mostly. Sometimes he went out to see London. He wasn't always on my eyes though." answered the spy.

"Not always on your eyes?" repeated lieutenant Marino.

"I was keeping my distance as instructed. I lost him once for a several hours when he went out. Should I have...?"

"No, that's all right. He is already upset as it is and we just wanted to be sure that he wasn't searching for Cafasso, doing something stupid in the process." replied Rattazzi.

When they were left alone, Marino asked, "Is he going to be a trouble?"

"He has a problem with authority and his loyalty to Cafasso might be a factor but we need him. Slowly reincorporate him to our operations when he returns from his leave."

"And Cafasso?"

"If he is still alive, he won't tell his captors anything. And his loss turned out to be quite useful in the end..."

* * *

><p>The new pope (previously known as Peter Gruber) looked at a small contingent of troops in front of him. Priests, paladins, soldiers and others. They were the first bigger force to be send to Britain. They would start a war against wizards. When the secrecy would be broken, he would send some more. Wizards in Italy would surely react but they were already prepared. The remaining forces would be able to fully defend themselves without any fear of loosing their powers. And after Britain and Italy, the rest of Europe would follow. The whole world would beg Vatican for protection.<p>

He addressed the men, "Dear brothers! The day we all have feared is here. War with the wizards in Britain is commencing and we already lost some of our brothers to it. We must march to meet this menace because nobody else will - the destiny of this planet lies on our shoulders! If we fail, humanity will perish. I trust you not to let that happen. Now go with the God but proceed with caution. The loss of our brothers teaches us one thing: the God gives us power but we have to wield it - and wield it wisely if we want to win."

After his speech, they briefly prayed together and then the troops began to board the prepared transport planes.

* * *

><p>Matteo looked at the message from Marco. It said: "Reinforcements coming, hurry it up." He quickly called for a meeting.<p>

"What should we do?" asked Kingsley.

"We need to make contact with them. Persuade them that we are on the same side." answered Matteo.

"Will they listen?" asked somebody.

"I don't know. Everybody seemed to be eager to go into a conflict. But if we manage to convince them that the enemy here is only one man and his followers and not the whole society, then we can avoid a broad scale war." replied the priest.

Matteo then decided that the exorcism couldn't be delayed for much longer.

"All right. Let's do it." said Harry decisively when he was told.

"Not so fast. You are not prepared well enough. If I performed the exorcism now, it would have bad side effects." replied Matteo.

"Like what?"

"Well. It's usual for subjects to loose their memories from the time when they were possessed, for example."

"Oh."

"So you would return to a level of one year old. If that was the case."

"What are we going to do them?" asked Harry.

"There might be a workaround." replied Matteo and pondered, whether he should tell Harry now or later.

"Yes?"

"I... I think I need to speak with somebody first. Prepare yourself, we shall do it tomorrow."

Matteo then searched for Ginny. He found her at the infirmary, preparing some potions.

"Healing potions? Or a potion of haste?" asked the priest.

"The latter. It's a sort of laxative." answered Ginny and laughed.

"Can I talk to you after you're done?" asked the priest and Ginny nodded.

When they met later, Matteo outlined what he needed from her.

Ginny pondered for a while and the she hesitatingly said, "Look, I don't thing I'm the one you are searching for."

"Why not?"

"Harry, he never let me near him that way. He was too afraid to let me through that shell of his. In fact, he always held pretty everybody at arms length. Sorry, I can't help you."

"Then who can?"

"If you ask me, you should talk to Neville. He is such a quiet force and Harry's _"keep away from everybody"_ system doesn't recognise him as a threat. And in many ways, they are similar. And he seems to understand what's going on in Harry's head better than anybody else."

Matteo knew that Neville was Harry's alternative in the prophecy and so he did as he was told. Since Neville wasn't privy to the details of Harry's condition, Matteo had to be careful at first.

"Neville, as you might know, Harry's isn't entirely in the shape he should be." he told him.

"Well, yes."

"I'm going to help him but I need somebody to assist me. It has to be somebody who understands Harry. I was told that you are the best candidate."

Neville voiced his concern about that but after a while, he agreed to meet Matteo and Harry the next day. The priest then went through some meditation techniques with him.

The next day, the three of them met in Harry's room. Harry didn't know why Matteo needed the other boy there yet but he agreed to explain the situation to him.

Then Matteo said, "Neville, I'm going to exorcise the thing from Harry. But I don't want to accidentally erase Harry as well. I need you to be our guide in this. You'll help me to recognize what is Harry and what is the horcrux."

Neither Harry nor Neville said anything.

"Do you two understand what am I saying? Harry, this will require a great deal of trust from you to Neville. Because if he for example decided to erase your Hogwarts studies, he could."

Neville freaked out a little after that but Matteo managed to convince him that it was the best solution in the given situation. The priest explained the process to them.

Before he started, he repeated, "Remember Neville, you need to sort of triangulate Tom for me. And if you come across something from Harry's past that you would like Harry to forget, don't even think about it. It's important for Harry to remember as much as possible because his past makes him what he is. Also, it might make the triangulation less precise and hurt Harry in the process."

Harry then laid on his bed and Neville sat down on the floor next to it.

"Here goes nothing." said Matteo before the boys fell in oblivion.

* * *

><p>Voldemort had a meeting with a small group of his followers. They were reporting their progress in the investigation of the recent events. He wasn't very pleased with it.<p>

Suddenly, he staggered and had to lean on the table. He felt weird and feeble.

"My lord?" asked one of the Death Eaters.

"Leave me!" shouted Voldemort.

When he was alone, he went to his quarters and laid in his bed. He had to rest.

* * *

><p>Matteo, Harry, Neville and Ginny went outside the next day. Harry pointed his wand at the nearby boulder and shot a few <em>Reducto<em> spells on it.

"How do you feel?" asked Neville.

"It's quite a rush. I haven't felt this good since Dumbledore destroyed that ring." answered Harry.

Matteo chuckled and said, "Take it easy at first. Your mind and body need time to get used to it."

Ginny stood in the background, smiling.

Harry then went to talk to Ron and Hermione who were astonished when they saw the changes in him. Compared to what he had been a mere week ago, he was like a different person. And he wasn't like the Harry from Hogwarts neither.

In the afternoon, they called for a small meeting.

Matteo started it by addressing everybody, "As you might have already heard, Harry's treatment was successful. His physical and mental faculties have improved and his magical power and focus are increasing rapidly. We don't know for sure what effect is this going to have on Voldemort but we can assume that he is seriously weakened. However, you have a bigger problem now."

"The church." stated Kingsley.

"Yes." confirmed the priest. "I think it's already clear to you that if you try something, you will be destroyed. But if you play your cards right, they'll have no choice but to listen to us. That is, if they want to keep their powers."

"But not everybody in your church is limited in such a way. What if your soldiers attacked us, we responded and then the priests started to shield them?" opposed Kingsley.

"I'm not sure what would happen in such a case. That's why we need to think this through. Fortunately, there is something that talks in our favour." replied Matteo and explained the whole thing with Harry and his mother. Then he continued, "And because of this, I would like to propose Harry to became your leader for the purposes of dealing with the church."

His statement was met with murmurs and whispers.

Harry stood up and spoke, "I know I didn't invite much confidence in the past. I assure you, I am a completely different person now. We need to present me to the church as a leader and I need to be able to make binding decisions for us when I deal with them."

After a while, everybody agreed. Then the planning began.

* * *

><p>The next day found the HQ of the "holy expedition" busy. Everything was being prepared for an assault on the magical world. Malvolio Rattazzi and lieutenant Marino were in the middle of everything. The "holy troops" were on standby to provide protection against spells.<p>

Marco was planning how to break the news to his superiors. Everybody seemed battle-eager and he suspected that the matter might be swept under the table. In the end, he decided to approach his fellow paladins and priests soon. He managed to assemble several of them in a small conference room.

"Now, what exactly are we doing here?" asked one of the few priests that were present.

Marco asked for silence and then explained, "I do apologize for the abruptness of my request to meet here. However, what I have to say is of up-most importance regarding this war and keeping of our abilities."

The others were startled and confused by his words. Marco proceeded to explain the situation. Some of his brothers were glad that Matteo was alive, others (who doted on the rules more) were disgruntled by the fact that he hadn't contacted them immediately and that he was probably acting behind Rattazzi's back. Of course, Marco was too careful to tell them the whole truth so they didn't know that both Marco and Matteo were allied with the wizards.

"So, what are we going to do?" asked one of the paladins.

Marco answered, "As I see it, we aren't left with much of a choice. If we remain on the current course, we shall loose our holy powers."

"Now wait a minute, we don't know that." said a priest.

"I beg to differ. Such things happened before and they will happen again unless we are careful." insisted Marco.

They discussed the matter briefly. Some of the brothers believed that the matter was simple: even if there were "good" wizards and even if the might of the Ministry and Voldemort was broken, the magical Britain was still under the control of the Death Eaters. Hence, their intervention was still needed.

"What else would you propose in this situation?" asked one of the priests Marco.

"I think that if we make a broad scale attack now, when the rebels finally gained the upper hand, it won't look very good. As weird as it sounds, I believe the best course of action would be to meet with the leader of this Order of the Phoenix and come to some sort of truce. Then we can proceed with our move on the Death Eaters and their supporters." replied Marco. His tone was becoming more and more uneasy as he was saying that.

Some of the listeners were quite shocked. One of them asked, "Alliance with wizards? Don't you think that it would make us loose our abilities much surer?"

Another added, "Plus, this is a matter of internal rivalries among the wizards - we can't get involved in this."

Marco sighed and then replied, "Look, I don't think that Matteo would propose this unless he was sure about what he was doing. Plus there is something more - he claims that there is a strong possibility that this Order, or their leader at least, is under the Lord's protection."

Nothing that Marco said so far caused such an uproar as his last statement.

"Calm down!" said Marco strongly and then explained the whole thing about Lily, Voldemort and Harry.

"This is impossible, wizards can't create a holy shield!" opposed one of the priests.

"And yet, Lily did. Allegedly, she was a believer - at least until she got the letter. Maybe she prayed to the Lord when she sacrificed herself. The fact remains that Potter was shielded and that magic can't block the killing curse."

The discussion was quite heated and so Marco didn't notice at first that one of the priests was sending a message through his cellphone.

"Excuse me, are we boring you? What are you doing?" asked Marco when he finally noticed.

The priest sneered at him, "Just letting those who are in charge know what's going on here."

One of the paladins, named Gastini, remarked, "Father, I believe that we can solve this among ourselves without Rattazzi complicating the situation even more."

Other priests and paladins joined the discussion about whether it was an internal matter or not. They were in a middle of a full-blown row when the door opened and Rattazzi and Marino entered.

"What is happening here?" bellowed Rattazzi. All he knew from the short message was that Marco Rua was conspiring with the other wielders behind his back.

Marco decided to firmly stand his ground and retorted, "Ah, nice of you to stop by. However, I don't recollect that you were invited to this meeting. As was already pointed out, the matter is of internal nature. Nevertheless..."

Rattazzi grew more and more purple with each word and finally shouted, "How...!"

However, Marco interrupted him and loudly repeated, "Nevertheless the result of this meeting is bound to have large impact on your plans so be my guest and take a seat."

The priests and paladins just gaped at his audacity. Rattazzi was about to fry and chew Marco out when one of the priests calmly said, "The matter is that we have received some rather interesting news. It seems that Cafasso is alive."

Rattazzi's head jerked toward the speaker when he heard the name.

"Cafasso? How?" he asked.

Marco briefly explained how Cafasso and his unit had been overrun by Death Eaters. When Rattazzi learned that Cafasso had been saved by the resistance and that he was actually enjoying their hospitality at the moment, he reacted quite indignantly. Marco asked him whether he would be glad if Cafasso was dead instead.

And then the whole discussion that had occurred before Rattazzi's arrival repeated itself. There was one difference though - Rattazzi didn't care whether Cafasso's and Rua's claims were heretical or not. It was obvious that all wanted at that point was to begin a full-scale operation which would target all wizards in Britain. However, if there was something he was afraid of, it was definitely the idea of becoming completely open and vulnerable to a magical attack. He had his own theory about the source of priests' power and didn't really believe that they were actually going to loose their powers and was in fact fare more inclined to believe that it was just some trick from Cafasso but he was hesitant to risk it. For a moment, he imagined himself at mercy of a magical adversary.

Rattazzi started to stroke his lips with a knuckle of his forefinger and contemplated his response. Finally, he spoke to the assembled priests and paladins, "Very well, this has priority over Rua's and Cafasso's insubordination. I believe that all of this is merely a wishful thinking on Cafasso's side but we shall verify his claims. So, we'll find out more about those wizards and if they truly can dissolve the matter and submit to some rules, I guess they could be spared after all."

Marco didn't like what Rattazzi said but the others were almost awed by his reasonableness. In the end, Rattazzi said that he had to confirm it with the Vatican and dismissed the meeting. No reply was to be given to Cafasso yet and Rua was effectively put into detention. Nobody else was allowed to leave the base either and soldiers watched everybody.

As soon as Rattazzi and Marino were alone, Rattazzi exploded, "Damn that traitor and damn his supporters! We should hang them all!"

Marino nodded his head contemplatively and replied, "We've got quite a situation in our hands. This could endanger everything."

Rattazzi sighed and then asked Marino to establish a secure conference with the pope.

* * *

><p>Matteo and a few others were loitering outside. They were waiting for Marco to call them and tell them about Rattazzi's reaction. Finally, the cellphone rang.<p>

"Marco?" asked Matteo when he accepted the call.

"I'm here." replied the voice of the paladin. It sounded as if he was a little far from the microphone.

"Hello Cafasso, this is Rattazzi. Lieutenant Marino is with me. You are on a speaker."

Matteo made a sour face when he heard the voice of his superior. However, it wasn't as if he hadn't expected such a thing.

"Father Rattazzi, I trust that Marco explained the situation?" he said.

"Indeed. I have to admit that I find these news most unexpected. Nevertheless, we are willing to meet with representatives of this resistance group if they can make our job easier. However, do not presume that we are going to forget that you've broken the command chain. Regardless of the results, you weren't authorized to speak for us so expect a disciplinary action later."

Matteo rolled his eyes. He considered it a good thing though - there was a chance that Rattazzi would take his frustration out on him instead on the wizards. They discussed the meeting place and other details afterwards. In the end, Rattazzi told Matteo to warn the wizards that Vatican would expect much and offer little. Matteo replied that he was sure that they will come to an agreement.

* * *

><p>Marco watched Rattazzi and Marino as they talked with Matteo. His abilities were telling him that they weren't to be trusted. However, it wasn't as if they were trying to hide it. They outright told Matteo that they were going to chew him out and that they weren't going to offer the wizards a fair deal. After all, it wasn't as if he had expected them to do differently. In his opinion, it was was more then probable they weren't going to allow the wizards to rebuild their world. Marco didn't consider it a great injustice since it was proven that most wizards didn't deserve autonomy and those who did, like Harry's group, were too few in number to build a world of their own.<p>

Unfortunately, Marco was wrong - Rattazzi said all those threats only to fool Marco. Rattazzi and Marino reminded Marco that he still wasn't allowed to leave the base. Then they headed towards the most heavily guarded part of the base - the detention area. They met a priest in there and proceeded to a cell where a wizard was strapped to a metallic examination table. He was still unconscious but the drop bottle with sedatives was already disconnected.

"OK, wake him up." ordered Rattazzi.

The priest did as he was told. When the captured wizard opened his eyes, the priest told him, "You've got visitors. You already know that your magic is useless so don't try anything funny."

The priest then nodded to Rattazzi and Marino and stepped out of the cell as requested.

When the wizard gained enough lucidity, Rattazzi told him, "I've heard that you've got aptitude in poisons. I believe we might have a job for you."


	7. Chapter 7

Clash

The dark forces controlling the magical Britain were in disarray. They sustained a series of hits and only sightings of order members during the one on the Ministry gave them any indication who was behind them. Also, the Dark Lord went into isolation for some reason, there were whispers that his immortality was failing. All in all, it was a perfect time to overthrow the regime. However, that wasn't about to happen since the people willing to do that were too busy plotting against each other.

It was a few days after the initial contact between the group led by Kingsley (and Harry) and Rattazzi's expedition. The time for the face-to-face meeting was approaching and the closer it drew the more was Marco Rua agitated. The meeting was supposed to happen that evening and he had not been invited to any kind of a briefing yet.

The atmosphere in the hideout of the resistance was similar. Matteo Cafasso went with the wizards over all the possible scenarios.

"This is just an initial meeting, it's unlikely they will try anything." he told the others.

"And what if they do?" asked Kingsley.

"Then we'll apparate out of there as quickly as possible. We shall go in a small group - only me, Harry and possibly you, Kingsley. Now, there is no precedence for this, but I believe that if they tried to trap you, I would be able to get us through like I did when we apparated out of the Ministry."

"Fight divine with divine? Is that even possible?" asked Harry.

"Well, nobody is really sure how our abilities work but in the end, it could be viewed as asking the God to disregard their request."

"Well, let's hope that it will go smoothly." remarked Harry.

Kingsley nodded and said, "Indeed. Now, let's talk about the placement of our backup..."

* * *

><p>It was late afternoon when Marco entered Marino's office. There was another officer present.<p>

"It's a high time." he (Marco) said.

"Excuse me?" asked lieutenant Marino.

"The meeting..."

Marino raised his hand and interrupted him, "There's an emergency. You are to accompany sergeant here and his men and deal with it. The details will be explained to you in the chopper."

To say that Marco was somewhat upset would be an understatement - not that he hadn't considered a possibility of such a stunt.

"What a hell?" he exclaimed.

Marino stood up and replied in a raised voice, "You are already under scrutiny, Rua. I advise you to control yourself."

Marco wanted to answer, "What makes you think I take orders form you, soldier?" but said instead, "I'm afraid that I'll be shortly required elsewhere."

"I already cleared this with Rattazzi, he gave you a go. In fact, I don't think he ever planned for you to participate on the meeting."

Marco started to think about his situation. It was obvious that they wanted him to get out of the way - Marino hadn't even attempted to cover that. The questions that remained were why and what would happen if he decided to disregard the order. For all he knew there were MPs waiting nearby for any sign of disobedience. Hence, he decided to dance to their tune for the time being.

"What's the nature of the emergency." he asked.

"I shall brief you on the way, follow me." said the sergeant and headed towards the door.

Lieutenant Marino made a dismissing gesture with his hand. Marco growled silently and rushed after the sergeant.

Three more soldiers were waiting at the heliport. One of them carried some extra gear and another an extra gun.

"Let's get on the way, you can gear up once we take off." commanded the sergeant. Then he stiffened. "Where's the damn pilot?" he growled.

Marco approached the soldiers with the equipment for him. Both of them unsurely looked at the sergeant and then the one carrying a vest and other gear stepped forward. Marco took the bundle from him. He felt that something was off about the situation.

They all heard that somebody hit the canopy twice to gain their attention. The sergeant looked away from Marco and saw that the pilot was on his place, fiddling with the instruments.

"You took your sweet time!" he shouted.

The pilot just made a generic surrendering gesture with his right hand and then went back to activating the systems. The sergeant decided that it wasn't a good time to deal with him.

"Get your asses in the chopper!" he bellowed and showed Marco, who was in the process of putting the vest on.

They rose in the air and headed away from the base.

"So what's our mission?" asked Marco, as he was finishing fastening the belts.

"Well, what else could it be then wizards?" replied the sergeant.

Marco gazed back at him and replied, "Thanks, but I've sort of figured that out already."

"Cut the sarcasm, will you?" snapped the sergeant indignantly.

Marco looked at the soldier carrying the rifle for him. The boy seemed a bit nervous. Marco reached out and the soldier mechanically extended both his arms to hand the rifle over. Marco grabbed it. He didn't even bother to ask for extra clips.

As he weighted the weapon in his hands, he noticed that it was too light. Slowly, Marco came to realize what was about to happen. They intended to silently take him away from the base, give him an empty gun and then dispose of him away from any witnesses. He was shocked at first that Rattazzi and Marino would do something so drastic. Then he realized that it was completely in character for them - after all, they were planning a genocide. However, that meant that they had something similar in store for Matteo and Harry.

Marco realized that the soldiers were staring at him, probably attempting to estimate whether he suspected anything. Marco forced himself to relax, determined not to make them move on him sooner then they originally planned. Speaking of which, he had no idea when was that supposed to be. Were they at least planning to land before killing him? It seemed probable, there was no risk of damaging the helicopter that way. Hence, he still had time to think about some kind of diversion. Was it possible to use his powers to create some kind of a blinding flash?

Everybody's attention was focused on Marco so nobody noticed the pilot's behaviour with the exception of Marco himself. The pilot reached into his jacket for something and turned the autopilot on. Marco realized that they had already slowed down. Then the pilot turned around in his seat and though his face was partially cowered by his big pilot shades, Marco found him quite familiar. The soldier sitting next to the paladin narrowed his eyes but he didn't suspect anything until there was a bang and one of the soldiers sitting with their backs toward the pilot fell over. The pilot was clutching a small-calibre six-shooter in his hand.

Chaos erupted inside the small cabin. Marco wasted no time and whacked the soldier next to him with the butt of his rifle. That left him and the pilot with the sergeant and a private. The private had a short period of indecision, not knowing which enemy to face. The pilot nailed him with the second shot. At the same time, Marco leaped at the sergeant who was already turning his rifle at him. That was giving the sergeant a certain disadvantage in such a close quarters but it was still faster then drawing his side arm. Still, he managed to squeeze the trigger before Marco crushed into him. The slug went through his hip and then through the door, thankfully not damaging anything important.

Marco pushed the pain into background and put more pressure on the sergeants throat. He paid no attention as the pilot, who was actually brother Gastini, finished the soldier he had whacked earlier. Never breaking the eye contact, he deprived the sergeant of his handgun and then took his own knife, raising it to his chest.

"You can't do this. The rules..." choked the sergeant out, sounding genuinely surprised.

"What rules?" asked Marco and pushed the knife into the man's heart. Blood spilled out, staining his hands, soaking the sergeant's uniform and dripping on the floor.

"Do you need any help back there, brother Rua?" shouted Gastini, who was at the moment busy steadying the aircraft.

"No, I've got it." replied Marco and started to heal himself. As his flesh reknit itself, he found solace in the simple truth deduced from it: God was on his side and that meant that Rattazzi and Marino were screwed.

"We need to warn father Matteo!" he shouted but Gastini was already tossing him a cellphone.

Marco punched the number in but was met with an automated message from the operator telling him that the callee was unavailable.

"Dammit!" he cursed.

"What's wrong?" asked the other paladin.

"They left already and since magic isn't healthy for electronics, he left his cell in the hideout, turned off."

"Well, then we've got two options - we can return to the base and tell the others about what's happening..."

"...or we can proceed straight to the meeting place." finished Marco for him.

Gastini nodded and asked for his cell back, he needed to at least call their friends at the base. Marco stripped the bodies of anything useful and dumped them out of the door. Then he crawled onto the copilot seat.

* * *

><p>Matteo, Kingsley and Harry arrived at the agreed destination. They saw outlines of a helicopter and several vehicles against the darkening sky.<p>

"Easy boys." said the priest and strode towards the waiting soldiers.

As they drew closer, Matteo recognized Rattazzi and Marino.

"Where's Marco?" whispered Kingsley.

"Obviously not here. That's hardly surprising but keep your eyes peeled." replied Matteo discreetly.

Rattazzi and Marino watched as the trio approached. Rattazzi looked at them with disdain, especially at Matteo whom he considered a traitor. Marino, on the other hand, looked at them with the eye of a soldier who wants to analyse a threat. The three approaching men were able to sense their tension when they got closer.

Finally, they stood before Rattazzi, Marino and their subordinates. Cafasso was in the front while his companions covered his flanks. Nobody said anything for a while, they just stood there and measured each other. Kingsley looked around the camp. He noticed that all the soldiers had their weapons at the ready. Again, that wasn't very surprising. Matteo looked around as well and searched for his brothers with his eyes. There were only two of them and neither of them was on friendly basis with him. He wondered why Rattazzi didn't bring more to protect his posterior.

In the meantime, Harry studied Rattazzi himself. The things he heard from Matteo and Marco about the priest were enough to make Harry dislike him. When he finally met him in person, his dislike for the man doubled. He couldn't pinpoint of whom he reminded him of at first. There was a bit of Fudge since both of them were narrow-minded fools and corrupted officials. However, where Fudge had chosen inaction, Rattazzi had chosen complete extermination. Then there was also a bit of Thicknesse and Lucius Malfoy, of course. Finally, he put his finger on it: Rattazzi reminded him of his late uncle Vernon.

Harry didn't even realize that he started to glare at the prelate. Rattazzi watched the boy with a slight amusement and took out a brass cigarette box. He took out one and tapped it a few times against the box. Then he decided to break the silence but the other side beat him to it.

"Well, here we are." said Matteo (in English).

"Let me ask you something, Cafasso. What exactly do you think you are doing?" responded Rattazzi in Italian.

Cafasso decided not to honour the question with an answer. He folded his arms and stared in the eyes of his superior.

"Well? Can't you answer the question?" continued Rattazzi and put the cigarette in his mouth.

"You should speak English. It would be disrespectful to our guests if you didn't." rebuffed him Matteo.

Rattazzi almost snapped the cigarette he was lighting at the moment. Marino just gritted his teeth. Rattazzi made a puff to make sure that the cigarette was burning and then stepped closer to Matteo.

He snarled at him, "I would mind your attitude if I were you, Cafasso. Do you even realize the gravity of your situation?" Then he puffed a little cloud of smoke in his direction.

Matteo was careful not cough, he didn't want to give Rattazzi the satisfaction. Instead, he just lazily waved his hand in front of his face to express his disgust with the smell. Then he snarled right back, "I have done nothing that I should be ashamed of."

Marino finally spoke at that moment, "Is that so? Then I should refresh your memory. We were sent here with a clear mission and then you have suddenly decided that you knew better and went against the goals of that mission!"

Rattazzi kept blowing smoke towards Matteo during Marino's tirade. Matteo didn't mind it and retorted, "Then we have received different orders because I was tasked with investigating the situation!"  
>Then he looked at the priests and soldiers standing behind the officer and continued in Italian, "What are you playing at anyway? Do you think that God cares about our orders? If he feels that we are misusing his power, he will take it from us. And you know what's going to happen afterwards - the wizards will send you packing. And then you would be responsible for loosing a war that me, my brothers and my magical friends have fought so hard to win."<p>

Marino hissed in low voice, "So you say." but it was drowned in Rattazzi's roar, "DO NOT BLASPHEME! How dare you to question the church! You gave an oath of obedience!" Then he puffed some more smoke.

Kingsley grew tired of the brewing shouting match and decided to reveal his ability to speak Italian, "Excuse, could you leave it for later? I thought we were here to negotiate peace."

Of course, his formulation was somewhat sloppy but his words made Matteo smile nevertheless.

"Of course, forgive me. Shall we talk then?" said Matteo.

"We already do." growled Rattazzi, made another step towards Matteo and breathed out cigarette smoke in his face.

Matteo lost patience at that moment and snapped, "Would you stop that? You are behaving like a teenager!"

It was only then when a ring rang in Kingsley's head. "Matteo! Step back and stop breathing that shit!" he barked.

"What?" asked Matteo and turned his head to him.

Kingsley gasped. Matteo was confused by his horrified expression. Then he reached to his nose to wipe off the wetness he felt. When he looked at his fingers afterwards, they were red. At the same time, they heard a sound of a helicopter approaching.

"Father Matteo!" cried Harry when he too saw that the priest was bleeding.

Marino snidely remarked, "You know, I never really believed in that crap about God's power. In my book, you are just as freaky as any other so called "wizards". Magic, phew! Mutants, that's what you are. Genetic aberrations! Luckily we managed to convince some of you to hunt the others."

Matteo started to bleed from his eyes as well and staggered. Harry gave in to his temper and drew his wand. Unfortunately for him, the soldiers were already prepared. There was a bang and Harry felt a sharp pain as a slug from a rifle went through his right lung. Luckily, the majority of the fire was focussed on Kingsley since the soldiers considered him more dangerous. And rightfully so - he had his wand hidden in a sleeve and silently conjured a shield with it when he realized that something was wrong.

As the bullets splattered against the forcefield, he had just a second to decide what to do. He dived for Harry in the end. Matteo had barely enough strength to tell them to go. Rattazzi retreated and Marino shouted orders at the two priests. When Kingsley grabbed Harry and disapparated with him away, he started to shout even more. Nobody bothered to finish Matteo.

The backup forces were already prepared when Kingsley apparated to them. A healer began to tend to Harry immediately.

"What should we do? Can we take on those two priests?" asked a wizard.

"I don't know. I was able to disapparate but maybe they were too slow."

"Look!" shouted another wizard.

A helicopter flew over the enemies and somebody started to pepper the soldiers from it.

"I guess that answers the question. Team one, disillusion and follow me!" bellowed Kingsley.

Marino's soldiers didn't panic right away - they were too experienced for that. However, their actions became disorganized after a while. True, each of them had killed his fair share of wizards but this situation was different.

First of all, they had spent so much time fighting wizards that they had forgotten what is it like to be shot at. So, even though it was just a small transport helicopter above them and even though it was just one man shooting at them with a "simple" assault rifle, they didn't know right away how to react.

Second, strange things started to happen to them. If they could put their arrogance away for a moment they would realize that they were under magical attack. As it was, they had been taking the holy protection for granted for too long and so the subtle jinxes that Kingsley's men were using to test for any holy defences successfully threw their ranks into chaos. The irony was that the Vatican intentionally hadn't trained their anti-wizard troops to fight without the backing of the priests. Why? Mainly because they didn't want those troops to sell their knowledge of such tactics to other nations and destroy the monopoly of the church in the area of the anti-magical defence.

Of course, the priests knew well enough what was happening. Both of them were trying to neutralize the magic around them but to no avail. One of them turned to Rattazzi and caught his eye - and that one look was all it took for Rattazzi to understand that they were powerless. Rattazzi then wanted to discuss the situation with Marino but he was too busy at the moment. The Lieutenant managed to scramble a group of soldiers and ordered them to concentrate their fire on the helicopter. During the next fly-over, Gastini heard a few metallic impacts.

"What was that?" he yelled over his shoulder when he was turning the aircraft around.

"What was what?" shouted Marco back and pulled the trigger again. Then he reloaded and added, "Head back, I think I saw Marino."

Gastiny nodded and steered the helicopter. He noticed the ground-fire this time.

"I think they are shooting at us." he informed Marco.

"Don't you say."

They flew over them but Marco didn't manage to hit anybody. The soldiers on the ground were obviously luckier and both paladins heard the tingling impacts this time. Then there was some beeping.

"There is a red symbol blinking over here. No, two red symbols!" cried Gastiny.

"Bugger."

They flew over Kingsley's head and he saw thick smoke coming from the tail of the helicopter. The first thing that he thought about was to apparate inside the cabin and save the crew. Then he realized that he didn't know whether it was Marco inside (or someone else with friendly intentions). So he apparated in front of the helicopter and shot sparks from his wand.

"That wizard is trying to get our attention." told Gastiny to Marco.

"What?" said Marco and looked from the front window just in time to see a second flare. "That's Kingsley, I think. Follow me!" he exclaimed and jumped out of the unstable helicopter.

That wasn't exactly what Kingsley expected but he was prepared nevertheless and cast the same spell that Dumbledore used to save Harry in his fourth year. Marco's fall broke but then Gastiny jumped out as well and Kingsley had to drop Marco. The paladin fell a few meters away from him and crumpled to the ground - it looked like he had something broken or twisted. The helicopter started to rotate and crashed about two hundred meters further. Kingsley was in a time pressure so once Gastiny made it safely to the ground, he grabbed Marco and apparated with him to the same place where he had taken Harry earlier.

The main force was already mounting the final attack when Kingsley rejoined them. Majority of the soldiers was confused, disabled, fighting conjured sentinels or at least panicking and most of their vehicles were burning. The wizards formed a line and a half of them erected shields which stopped any bullets coming their way while the other half started to cast curses. Some of the soldiers attempted to overload the shields by grenade launchers but the wizards easily stopped the grenades in mid-air and returned them back to their senders.

Rattazzi and Marino rallied some of the last soldiers around them and retreated to the helicopter (which seemed to be in a working order) while the soldiers took cover between the burning vehicles. When the men heard the sound of a starting engine and realized that their cowardly leaders were abandoning them, they were quite dismayed but they were in no position to do anything else but hold the line since they were under heavy attack.

Then the soldiers heard a crack from somewhere inside their perimeter. Some of them turned around and saw Marco and Harry. Harry quickly conjured a shield with a wand in his right hand while he kept holding onto Marco's shoulder with his left hand. Marco raised his assault rifle and started to cut down the enemies. The soldiers returned the fire but once again, their bullets uselessly splattered on Harry's shield.

It took only several seconds before Marco and Harry subdued any immediate resistance and reached the helicopter. The rest of the soldiers were overrun by that time as well and surrendered (a scary thing to do for someone who fears magic but they saw that many of their comrades were just stunned anyway). Marino was franticly trying to get the helicopter in the air but his efforts were stopped when Marco stepped in front of the cabin and emptied his magazine into him. Rattazzi reached for a side arm with his shaking hands but Harry just flicked his wand and the corrupted priest flew out of his seat and landed in front of Marco's feet.

Rattazzi raised his head and met Marco's murderous stare. Harry expected to hear some empty threats, as high bureaucrats tend to do in similar situations, but Rattazzi had none for once and looked genuinely afraid. Marco wasted no time and rolled him over with a kick. Then he straddled his stomach and started to beat him in the face with both hands.

He stopped only when he heard Harry yell his name. He looked up from the bloody face of his former superior and saw the boy kneeling next to Matteo's still form. Marco wiped his forehead with a sleeve of his uniform and then shoved Rattazzi towards one of the wizards nearby.

"Get everything he knows from him. Dispose of him afterwards." he barked at the wizard and then run to Harry.

"What happened?" Marco asked when he saw his mentor covered in his own blood.

"Poison, magical. Rattazzi must have acquired it from a wizard." answered Kingsley.

"Well, fix him!" exclaimed Marco.

"Even if we had an antidote, it would have to be applied pre-emptively for full effect. At this stage, you are his only chance."

"Me? This is beyond my abilities!" cried Marco but took out his cross and started to work on his friend right away. Kingsley sent one of the wizards around to find out whether anything was found on Rattazzi. A healer arrived a short while later and joined Marco's efforts. At last, Gastiny jogged in, completely out of breath. Some of the wizards pointed their wands at him but Kingsley hissed at them to stand down. Gastiny came to a stop next to Harry and took in Matteo's condition. Harry whispered to him a brief explanation about what happened.

Marco was still trying to treat his friend when the healer announced that the priest was dead. The paladin ceased his efforts and sagged. Harry wiped away some moisture around his eyes and then conjured some cloth and water and started to clean away the blood. Gastiny stepped to Marco and briefly grasped his shoulder and muttered his condolence. Marco just nodded and kept staring at Matteo's face as it was slowly uncovered by Harry's ministration.

Most of the people around kept their distance from the scene not to disturb those who knew the priest. Gastiny took his cellphone from his pocket and contacted his colleagues after determining that it was in working order. The reception was bad (due to low coverage or damages from Kingsley's spell) but he managed to relay the news of Rattazzi's betrayal and Matteo's passing.

The he gestured to Kingsley to come to him and told him, "This is not over. Other soldiers back at the base might be on this and my friends there might be in danger. We need to convene with them as soon as possible and decide the next course of action."

"And we'll need to talk to the prime minister right after that. He probably won't be happy to see me but I hope that he'll let me explain myself." added Kingsley.

They hurriedly discussed the matter with other people. When they were preparing to leave already, they were suddenly joined by Marco.

"Wait for me, I'm coming." he told them in a strong voice.

"Marco?" asked Gastiny.

"We've got a lot of work to do. There will be time for grieving later. Harry will take care of the body before he'll come to see the minister with us." stated Marco.


	8. Chapter 8

Epilogue

About a month later, a diplomat stood in the prime minister's office. Why was he standing? Because his nervousness wouldn't allow him to stay sitting. Unlike him, the British prime minister sat calmly behind his desk. In fact, he fought to keep himself from smiling for doing so wouldn't be diplomatic.

The diplomat said with a noticeable Italian accent, "I do not believe that you fully anticipate the possible repercussions of your actions! You can't just turn against your allies like that! You've attacked..."

The minister interrupted him at that point, "We have not attacked anybody. We simply retracted our permission for your troops to operate on our soil and our military now assists in their return to Italy."

"We had a deal!"

"Indeed. However, after much reconsideration and counsel with Her Majesty, I've came to the conclusion that it would be better if the security of this country was provided by our own army rather then yours. It would be one thing to accept a few experts and instructors but we couldn't possibly accept the presence of the small army that arrived later. Plus, it would be a little unfair to you as well - don't you have enough problems with your own magical population?"

"While you seem to be quite at ease with your own." sneered the diplomat.

"Now, now, that's not true. We are cracking hard on the remnants of the magical terrorists and we intend to keep the wizards on a tight leash afterwards."

"With the help of the holy protectors you stole from our own ranks!"

"Can I fault them for believing that they needed to apply for an asylum in our country? Or that they believed that they would loose their powers if they didn't?"

The diplomat started to seethe. Then he spoke through his gritted teeth, "This is not over. We shall not forget this betrayal easily."

The minister lost his patience and motioned with his hand. A wizard (vouched for by Kingsley himself and sworn into his service) became visible behind the diplomat and said, "I believe you've overstayed your welcome."

The diplomat started when he saw the wizard stroking his wand. He stuttered, "This... this is outrageous!"

"Good day to you as well. Now if you excuse me..." rebuffed him the prime minister.

The wizard led the diplomat out of the office. Once the door closed behind them, the minister gestured to another invisible person in the room. Gastiny took of his Invisibility Cloak and walked towards him.

"What do they actually intend to do? Publicly announce the existence of magic and accuse our government of treason against humankind?" asked the minister.

The paladin slightly raised the left corner of his mouth and answered, "I do believe that you needn't worry about what they do or do not intend."

* * *

><p>At another place and time, some sounds of commotion reached a room-sized and obviously lived-in cavern. The frail person laying in the bed had barely enough strength to raise his head and look at the entrance. A while later, Harry Potter entered.<p>

"Hello Tom. Let me tell you, the security at this place is terrible." he said.

Ex-lord Voldermort started to raise his hand and attempted to aim his wand at the man. Harry briefly considered simply disarming him but then he just made a duvet move and lock the wizard's arm in place. Before his enemy could free himself, Harry quickly crossed the room and gently pried the wand from his enemy's grasp. Voldermort then attempted to rise from the bed but Harry pushed him back down. And that was all the resistance that the Dark Lord had strength for. Harry pulled a chair for himself and seated himself next to the bed.

"It seems me that you are in a lot of trouble." said Harry after some time.

Voldemort wanted to say something but a wheeze was all he could manage.

Harry continued, "Apart from the fact that you've lost your power and your Death Eaters have abandoned you, you seem to have some medical problems as well. You look like you aren't going to have enough strength to breathe soon. That is, unless your heart stops beating first of course."

Voldemort kept staring at his bane hatefully.

"And of course, one of your former allies could decide to rebuild your empire - with you as his trophy. But that's inconsequential since it's the prospect of death that scares you the most. After all, it's in your name - flight from death."

Harry stood up and walked around the bed. Then he spoke again, "Despite what you might think, I haven't come here to mock you. In fact, I've got and offer for you. Well, to be more precise, the prime minister does since he's the only one who can protect from prosecution for your actions. We shall provide you with protection and the best medical care that magic and technology has to offer. You shall live for years to come in comfort and safety. There is only one little thing that we shall require from you in return and I don't think that it's going to be any problem for you to provide it. In fact, I believe that you would actually like a bit of revenge on the people that deserted you."

Voldemort stayed silent and it wasn't because he was too weak to respond for once.

Harry explained, "You may no longer be their master but you know all about them. Names, locations, resources, allies, supporters, informers and so on."

Harry's face betrayed nothing but he enjoyed every moment of it. It was better than killing him hundred times over.

* * *

><p>Marco Rua watched the skyline of Rome. The last time he visited, his friend and mentor was still alive. So much had happened in the meantime. The paladin wondered what his younger self would say if he saw himself at that moment, sneaking through Vatican like a thief. Then he leaned forward and let the sun rays warm his face. He enjoyed that moment of tranquillity for a short moment - it was like a calm before a storm. Then he looked at his watches, turned away from the window and set out.<p>

The pope was being briefed about the current state of the situation. There weren't as many good news as he hoped for. The betrayal of Britain and the loss of every priest and paladin sent there was only the beginning of his problems. In retrospection, he should had known better. The pope wondered what would have happen in he'd simply left them all to die. Oh, wait a minute - then the non-magical Britain would be under Voldemort's control at that moment. What would happen afterwards? He would need to approach the other countries and ask them to go to war. His people would be in a minority then a the church wouldn't call the shots - they would be reduced to mere supporters.

The pope focussed his attention on the diplomat that had returned from France. The French president was determined to wait and see how the situation resolves itself. No big surprise there - France didn't have as much problems with dark wizards as England. Plus, the president was more inclined to believe the assurances from the British prime minister rather then the warnings of the church.

The pope dismissed the diplomat and contemplated for a while. The situation wasn't lost yet, he still had cards that he could play. Their ranks grew thinner but they still had enough bearers of the holy power to protect themselves. His web of contacts and allies grew a bit poorer but the church still had a firm foothold in Italy. All things considered, they were just as strong as when they had driven the wizards into hiding, if not stronger (thanks to modern technologies). And most of all, the wizards around the globe were as arrogant as ever and the muggles were as intolerant towards those who were different and as afraid of unknown as ever. His success was ensured by the human nature itself. Perhaps, he could forge an alliance with the American government one day or rather with one of its semi-rogue branches or agencies.

The pope came out of his contemplation a gave a nod to the usherer - it was time to be briefed about the preparations of their defences in Italy and about the movements of the Italian magical folk. Before the uniformed clown had a chance to go and bring the appropriate military personal, a hooded person entered the hall. The guards focussed their eyes on the man but they had no reason to believe that he wasn't supposed to be there. How else would he gain entrance in the area?

Nor the pope himself saw any reason to be alarmed, though he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. That ended when the newcomer loudly and clearly uttered, "Madagascar!" All the people with the exception of the pope stopped looking at the hooded man and their faces became expressionless. Then, one by one, they started to leave the room.

"What is the meaning of this?" bellowed the pope.

"Be silent!" barked Marco and pointed his silenced handgun on the pope. Then he lowered his hood.

"What are you doing here?" asked the pope, his voice lowered by his consternation over the situation.

"Forgive me your eminence, for I have sinned. Is this going to cover it?" mocked him Marco and tossed him a five-hundred lire coin with his free hand.

"How dare you..." started the pope, his voice raising again, but Marco threateningly straightened his arm with the gun.

"I think you've heard my name already - Marco Rua. And if not, you've surely heard about Cafasso from you subordinates."

The pope slowly shook his head and then snarled, "You are going to pay for this. Just like those traitors who made this possible."

"What traitors? Oh, you mean your guards. I'm afraid they didn't grow enough spine for such a thing yet. What you just saw was a work of a potion that I sneaked in their breakfasts. Now, it seems to me that you don't fully comprehend that you aren't in a position..."

Marco was interrupted by the pope, "In no position? And what exactly are planning to do? What is it that you actually think that you can do? It's you who is in no..."

The pope's tirade was suddenly interrupted when Marco pulled the trigger. The pope gasped as the bullet went through his flesh and as he was thrown back in his throne. Marco was next to him in a flash and rammed the muzzle of the silencer in his mouth and grabbed his jaw with his free hand.

"I apologize for my rudeness but I know from various movies that it's not wise to tarry in shooting somebody for the sake of a stupid banter or monologuing."

The fear finally appeared in the bulging eyes of the corrupted prelate.

Marco continued, "Have you really thought that you would get away with this? Have you really thought that we wouldn't kill you out of fear of the chaos it would yield? Well guess what, you aren't a bloody president and nothing is going to happen when you die."

The pope attempted to mumble something around the object that was blocking his mouth but Marco wasn't interested in hearing it. He pulled the trigger and watched as a spray of blood hit the expansive cloth that covered the throne. Then he pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger for the third and fourth time (chest and head again). Then he wiped the blood and saliva off his gun and made his retreat - he needed to get out of the city (as a precaution) and then use his portkey.

As he was making his way back to his car, he realized that he was coming out of an adrenaline rush. He had hoped that killing the bastard would leave him completely cold. In fact, he thought that he was the only who could handle the gravity of such an act which was why he had insisted on performing the mission almost on his own. And still, his heart was beating as if he had been in a school-fight.

He tried to distract himself by thinking about his immediate plans. He would return to England of course - there was still so much work to do. Not that he intended to leave afterwards, what he had over there felt more like home that anything else in the world. Maybe it was because it was a place that was dear to father Matteo and Marco felt closer to him there. Also, he had no place in the church any more and he didn't believe that he would fit in a mundane society. Yes, his place was among the British wizards and witches. He internally chuckled and thought to himself that he was still relatively young and that it would be a good idea to find himself a wife, a witch preferably, and start a family. After all, he was just a deacon, not a priest (though technically speaking, that didn't matter anyway unless he married prior to becoming a deacon). He chuckled again (for real this time) when he imagined children from such an union. If Rattazzi was right and the origin of his power was in his blood, then the resulting mix could be quite interesting. Of course, they saw priests loosing their holy power so that sort of threw that theory out of the window.

When he slammed the door behind him, his thoughts returned to the dead pope again. His body had been surely discovered already. He couldn't wait to watch the BBC the next day. Or maybe that very evening? Then he got an idea, took out a knife and carefully cut himself across his palm a little. He waited for a while and then summoned his power. Nothing happened for moment but then the red line started to close itself, leaving only a thin scar. It seemed that somebody mostly agreed with his actions.

THE END


End file.
